Star Trek Voyager Redux
by seraphim2db
Summary: A retake of the episode Caretaker. The force of the Caretaker array killed all of the senior officers on Voyager, only leaving behind Ensigns, Crewmen, and the lower ranks. Taking the role as Captain, a certain young Ensign will try to get his crew home.
1. Prologue

A retake of the episode Caretaker. The force of the Caretaker array killed all of the senior officers on Voyager, only leaving behind Ensigns, Crewmen, and the lower ranks. Taking the role as Captain, A certain young Ensign will try to get his crew home.

Disclaimer: I don't own Voyager, Star Trek or any character from the show, only the people and situations that I create.

A/N Ahhh, just in time for the holidays. I know I said in Annika and the Emissary that i was done writing at least for a long good while, but I was reading a story some time ago that the author abandoned and it was such a good story that I didn't want to see it die. I've changed some things about the story but I kept the integrity of what he wrote the same. I'll explain more about that at the end of the chapter. I kept getting pm's saying that people wanted me to do a Doctor Who crossover well the final arc of this story has a Doctor Who crossover event so you've finally gotten your wish.

Prologue

Red Alert.

That was the first thing Harry heard as he struggled to come back into consciousness. The agonizing sound of the red alert klaxon, wailing over and over, hurting as if someone jammed something sharp into his ears. His body finally responding to his minds command he rolled over on his back, groaned, opened his eyes and stared up at the flickering overhead lights of the bridge. His head hurt like hell and there was a splitting, throbbing, dull pain that shot up behind his eyes that went along with the rhythm of the flickering lights that shone overhead.

Red Alert.

Shaking his head, his thoughts suddenly tried to come back to him as he struggled to remember what threw him to the deck in the first place. Without his body giving him any warning, he was overcome by a sudden wave of nausea. His body's reflexes kicked in but he was still barely able to turn his head so he could throw up the lunch he had earlier, before reporting to duty.

As he stopped vomiting, his stomach churned once again, before settling. Rolling onto his back again, his limited knowledge of medical training from the Academy suddenly surfaced in the forefront of his mind. Dizziness, pain, ringing in his ear, sensitivity to light, nausea, vomiting, confusion and amnesia. All those things could mean only one thing.

Concussion. It was definitely a concussion.

Red Alert.

Getting the feeling back into his body, he steeled himself and rolled over, trying as hard as he could to push himself up. To his immediate horror, pain shot up his arm and he collapsed face down on the deck.

Damn it! He thought harshly to himself. How long have I been here and why isn't anyone helping me?

As he thought that, he looked back up at the ceiling and saw that the lights had settled into a dim glow. Just that little thing made his headache not seem so bad, even though it wasn't getting any better. Not sensing anyone rushing over to help him, he took a deep breath and with his right arm, grabbed his console and managed to get to his knees. Bracing himself for the wave of nausea that again washed over him, he suddenly remembered a little of what happened.

Voyager was in the Badlands, looking for the Maquis, and a coherent tetryon beam started to scan the ship in that weird, dangerous part of space. And then what happened? he asked himself as his eyes went wide for a second. There was a bright white light and the ship started shaking… And then came a loud sound. Of course, the sound. That earsplitting whine, like some kind of amplified feedback. I was bracing myself. He was falling, and he had stuck out his arm to brace himself, and he landed wrong and hit his head. And that's when the ship threw him to the deck, and then nothing.

Using that memory as motivation, as the ships Operation manager, it was his duty to find out what was wrong with the ship. In order for him to do that, he needed to get off his knees and go do his job. With a wince, he grabbed the console again and hoped that he wouldn't pass out. Once he was sure he wouldn't, he climbed to his feet and leaned against the console trying hard to catch his breath as the red alert klaxons wailed on.

Looking down Harry caught his reflection in a dead control panel, cracked horizontally along its entire length. His left arm looked to be hanging awkwardly and he knew that he needed to get to sickbay soon, but first he needed to find out what was going on.

"Harry."

Hearing his name, Harry finally focused and looked around the bridge to see that the forward consoles were spitting sparks, power conduits were venting plasma and after a few tense moments the emergency lights came on. When they did, his heart sank to the pit of his stomach as he saw Captain Janeway laying on the floor with a pool of blood caking up under her and a piece of metal-rebar sticking out of her neck. Whatever disaster had happened, must've thrown her to the floor and had done this to her. Seeing that the man he had met several hours before was by her side, trying to hold her down and keep her calm, Harry rushed over to them.

As Harry knelt down next to the older woman, he met Tom's gaze and knew that Captain Janeway was dying and that there was no way to save her. Not knowing what else to do, he held her hand with his good arm and looked deeply into her eyes. For a dying woman there was a brightness that reflected back from her eyes to his. There was a burning desire in her bluish grey eyes and it was as if she were willing him to do something.

Trying to mutter something, her voice came out as nothing but soft gurgles as blood slowly bubbled up and leaked out of her mouth. With a tear in his eye's Harry and Tom watched as her body quickly shuddered before she released her final breath.

"Captain?" Harry asked, not believing what just happened before him. "Captain!"

"She's dead, Harry." Tom said as softly as he could, over the hiss of a plasma conduit, as he reached down and closed Janeway's eyes. They met under such dire circumstances in one of Starfleet's penal colonies but he didn't want anything like this to happen to her, whether he liked her or not. "And Commander Cavit is dead too."

"What?" Harry asked as he looked up from Janeway's dead body.

"Lieutenant Stadi is badly injured and we need to get her to Sickbay." Tom went on as he stood to his feet and looked around. "Nobody else is badly injured on the bridge so we should probably get a move on."

"Okay." Harry replied with a sigh after a few agonizing seconds of collecting himself. Walking over to the conn, he and Tom knelt down, picked up the unconscious Stadi, and headed towards the turbolift doors. Hopefully someone in charge would do something soon and help to put the pieces of the ship back together so they could find out what was going on.

A/N Now before I go any further with this fic I wanted to explain that in this alternate universe the Caretaker died at the same time he brought Voyager to the Delta Quadrant so things will play out differently as the ship was over shot and landed in a different spot in the Delta Quadrant then on the show. Not to worry though, they will make it to the Array soon enough. Also the beginning parts of this story are actually a retake of a retake. Another author wrote part of this story on another board but he abandoned the fic. I tried to contact him to see if he was either interested in continuing the fic or letting me take a crack at it. He never answered so I decided to take a chance at finishing this story. I made a lot of changes, for example the story was actually supposed to be a Lieutenant version of Janeway taking command of Voyager after it's captain and senior officers were killed. I decided to make the story on Harry instead as a change of pace, so it wouldn't be the same story that he created, even though I'm using a large body of his work for the Caretaker arc. After that it's all my work. To the original author if you're reading this story, if you'd like for me to take this story down let me know and I will. I also wanted this fic to have a more raw grimy feel to it so it's rated M for cursing etc...


	2. Chapter 1 Conversations With Dead People

A/N Thanks for all of those great reviews guys. Keep them coming so I can keep this story moving.

Chapter 1

Conversations With Dead People

Harry and Tom staggered into sickbay, with Lt. Stadi in between them. His eyes not fully adjusting to the darkness of the room, Harry nearly tripped over a body lying by the door.

"Ah man." Harry mumbled as he saw that the dead man was wearing a blue uniform and had two and a half pips on his collar. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the man was since he had been in sickbay: The former chief medical officer's head was cocked at an unnatural angle, his neck having snapped like a twig. Chancing a glance around the room, Harry saw another figure, a young female officer, he assumed the nurse, laying in a fetal position with half her face burned off below a blown-out plasma conduit.

"God." Harry said with a sigh as he and Tom shared a look that seemed to say, what do we do now. Then Harry remembered something. "Computer! Activate emergency medical hologram!"

As he said that a bald, middle-aged hologram in a blue Starfleet uniform shimmered to life in the middle of sickbay. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." it said, ignoring or possibly not seeing the two bloody and burnt bodies lying on the floor.

"There's been some kind of accident; there are casualties all over the ship." Tom explained as he nodded towards Stadi. "Including her."

Not wasting any time the EMH grabbed a medical tricorder from a medical cabinet, while Tom and Harry cleared a bio-bed and gently laid the beautiful Stadi down on it. Taking the scans that he needed, the EMH raised his holographic eyebrows. "She has severe brain trauma and is in the need of surgery. But for now she's stable." it said as it looked from Tom to Harry. "Are either of you injured?"

"I'm fine." Tom replied as he took a step back.

"My head is really killing me and my shoulder hurts." Harry told him with another wince as he tried to move his arm. Taking the tricorder, the EMH scanned him and barely raised an eyebrow at his results.

"You have a mild concussion and a dislocated shoulder." the Doctor concluded. "I need to reset your shoulder."

Closing his eyes Harry took a deep breath, held it, then let it out in slow puffs. I can do this. he thought to himself as he looked the Doctor square in the eyes. "All right. Let's get this over with."

"Relax your arm and be prepared for a tinge of pain." the EMH said as he gave Harry a hypo-spray of painkiller, which clearly wasn't enough, before starting to carefully rotate his arm.

"It's the twenty-fourth century." Tom whispered in Harry's ear. "You'd think they'd have a better way to do this."

"Please hold still." the Doctor said as he went to work.

A tinge of pain my ass. Harry thought to himself with a cry of pain as the Doctor pulled on his arm. The holographic man was unrelenting, as he continued to rotate his arm. His eyes welling up in pain, Harry had to force himself not to beg for him to stop.

And then, when he could finally take no more, there was a pop and his arm was back in place. Instantly he felt a bit more relieved, even though a little pain still lingered. Moving his arm a little, he watched as the hologram went to the cabinet again and injected him with another hypo-spray, before bounding his arm in a sling. "I gave you medication to speed up your body's natural healing process." the Doctor explained. "But you will still need to keep your shoulder immobile for a couple of days. I have also given you something for your concussion; however, you are still at risk of brain swelling if you suffer from another head injury, so take special care to avoid them."

Giving him a nod, Harry was just grateful that the intense, pain was gone. After a few seconds he barely even noticed the headache, that was caused by his concussion.

Watching as the Doctor went to work on Lt. Stadi, the doors suddenly hissed open and more people staggered in, a petty officer with bad burns and, leaning on him, an Ensign with burned and bloody hands.

"Move." the EMH said simply to Harry as he again picked up his medical tricorder.

"But what about, Lt. Stadi?!" Harry demanded to know as the hologram turned to look at him.

"Her condition is stabilized for now." the Doctor told him. "This is now a triage situation."

As he said that Kim noticed for the first time how its voice never changed from a clipped, professional tone, giving it the bedside manner of a rock. After thinking for a moment he realized that it wasn't designed to have a bedside manner. It was only designed to assist the medical staff in a situation like they were caught in now. Except now they had to depend on him at least until they made it to the nearest starbase because some idiot had routed a plasma conduit behind sickbay's wall, and now both the CMO and his nurse were dead.

"Come on Harry." Tom spoke up, interrupting the young Ensign's thoughts. "Let's go to the bridge. Hopefully someone is in charge now and knows what's going on."

"In charge." Harry said aloud as he remembered his combadge. I must have hit my head hard, he thought, if he'd forgotten about that. It chirped when he tapped it; and he was grateful that at least that was still working. Let's see the Captain and Commander Cavit are dead. Who else is left? "Ensign Kim to Chief Engineer Scott." he said.

No reply. He tried again and got the same response. Heart pounding, he closed his eyes and thought for a second. The silent intercoms, the howling klaxon grating away at his nerves, and now this. Tapping his badge a third time, he sighed as no one answered.

"Computer, what's the status of Chief Engineer Scott?" Harry asked.

_"Lieutenant Commander Scott is dead."_ the Computer's voice said in a robotic tone.

"What? How?" Tom asked with wide eyes.

_"Lieutenant Commander Scott was killed from an explosion in main engineering."_

My God, Harry thought. Voyager's decapitated. Captain, first, and second officers, the doctor. Who the hell else can be left? Not having any idea who was in command of the ship, wasn't only frustrating but it was downright frightening. And then, Harry suddenly froze in horror, because the list of surviving department heads was getting shorter, and there couldn't be many left.

"Computer." he said into the air. "Who is the commanding officer of USS Voyager?"

_"The commanding officer of USS Voyager is Lieutenant Veronica Stadi."_

"Stadi?" Tom mouthed. "Computer, Lt. Stadi is... incapacitated." Tom said as he looked to the bio-bed that she was laying on. "Who is next in line to be in charge?"

_"Scanning."_ the Computer's voice droned. After a few seconds her voice came back. _"Temporary rank of Captain will be given to bridge officer Ensign Harry Kim."_

"Maaaa... maaaa.. maaa... me?" Harry asked with wobbly legs, his headache coming back in full effect. Feeling a strange tingling sensation running through his body, he collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

"Harry?" Tom cried out, his voice seemingly distant.

As if to make matters worse then what they already were, the ship shuddered hard, the warp core went offline with a sound like distant thunder, main power failed, and all the lights on the ship went out.

* * *

><p>Harry stood on the empty bridge of Voyager, looking out at the emptiness of space via view-screen. Not understanding what was happening, he suddenly felt a pair of warm slender hands touch him on his shoulders. Turning, he nearly collapsed as he saw Janeway standing in front of him.<p>

"Ca... Captain?" he asked, taking a step back. "But... but I thought that you were..."

"Dead?" Janeway asked with a sad smile. "I am."

"Is this... is this some kind of sick dream?"

"Something like that but I don't totally understand what's happening myself." she replied with a sigh. "There are something's that you need to know." as Janeway told him that, they were suddenly sitting in the command center. Harry in the Captain's chair and Janeway to the right of him.

"What the..."

"The first thing you need to know is that you're far away from home." Janeway started, ignoring his cry of surprise.

"How far?"

"You'll find that out when you wake up." Janeway told him with another sad smile. "Just know that you're far away from Starfleet and the people who are left alive on this ship need a leader to get them back home."

"I just don't understand!" Harry yelled in frustration as he stood to his feet and started to pace. "Why is this happening and why am I the one left in charge?"

"Because you are the last remaining bridge officer." Janeway answered almost in a motherly tone as she reached up to touch his face to make him look at her. "Even though Voyager still has lieutenants on the ship, Starfleet regulations require that the next bridge officer or department head to take over as Captain until help arrives. I see now that it doesn't matter what rank that officer has to be. Everyone else on the bridge is either dead or incapacitated."

"So this is because, I'm in charge of OPS and a bridge officer." Harry mumbled to himself. It was now required by Starfleet that anyone serving on the bridge had to take a leadership exam because of something similar to this happening on the Enterprise several years ago. It was done to help in the need of establishing an immediate command structure. But I'm no leader.

"You are." Janeway interrupted having read thoughts. "You wouldn't have made it through Starfleet if you didn't have the qualities to become a good leader. Harry, I can't say why but you were chosen and the people who are still alive on this ship are counting on you to get them home. And I know what you're thinking but don't pass this responsibility on to someone else. They won't be able to make the same impact as you and even though they've worked their entire lives for this chance, none of them can do what fate has chosen for you."

"I'm scared." Harry replied with a sigh as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"It's all right to be scared, Mr. Kim." Janeway told him seriously. "Sometimes fear can keep you alive but it's what you do after your fear that matters."

"I'm... I'm still scared but... but I understand."

"I can feel the spirits of the crew who died calling me back." Janeway said as she closed her eyes, hearing voices that only she could hear. "I don't have much time left so let me give you some advice. There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship," as she said that she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "...and never stop fighting."

"I... I understand." Harry replied as tears stung at his eyes, as he watched the Captain's image start to fade.

"It's time to grow up En... Captain Kim." Janeway started as she faded away, Harry still hearing her voice. "I might stop by from time to time to check on you. Good luck."

As she wished him good luck, Harry rolled over in bed and groaned, fresh tears dropping from his eyes. How long had he been asleep? Not long enough. Thinking that maybe this whole ordeal was merely a dream, he looked down at his arm and saw that it was in a sling. Just that simple thing was a cruel reminder of the dire situation he was now in. Breathing heavily, he sat up. His head was swimming and he was still so tired. The air in the cabin was hot and sticky, oppressive. It wasn't until he looked around that he realized it was Captain Janeway's room.

"Good, you're awake." Tom replied as he walked into the room.

"Tom?" Harry asked as he finally managed to get out of bed.

"Take it easy." Tom said as he walked closer to him and put a hand on his good arm. "The Doc said that you should get plenty of rest."

"How long was, I out?"

"For about twelve hours."

"Twelve hou... what did you find out while, I was out?" Harry asked, deciding to change the subject.

Letting out a sigh, Tom folded his arms over his chest. "Well do you want the bad news or the badder news?"

"Give me the bad news first." Harry replied with a sigh of his own.

"Well after you passed out, I brought you to Captain Janeway's room." Tom started. "Whatever happened to the ship damaged the warp core, weapons, shields, and some vital systems but I managed to get a team together and they're working on them and the ship should be fixed within the next couple of days."

"Our Chief Engineer is dead so whose in charge down there?"

"Well when I got down there it was a mess. Joe Carey was dead and it was a toss up between Ensign Vorik and Ensign Lyndsay Ballard."

"Good... I'm glad that she's still alive." Harry said in relief.

"You know her?" Tom asked curiously.

"Well... she was a friend... and my first crush in the Academy." Harry replied honestly. Seeing mischief dancing in Tom's eyes, he knew that the other man wanted to make a smart ass remark, but the direness of the situation at hand made him not say what he was thinking.

"Well I asked her to step in as acting Chief until you woke up and made your decision." Tom explained. "I mean she was the one that restored main power."

"Did anybody find out what happened to the ship?"

"Well Harry that's part of the badder news." Tom replied as he scratched at the back of his ear. "Whatever happened to us brought us over 70,000 light years from the Badlands and killed over twenty five people. We're in the Delta Quadrant." Tom told him, giving him a moment to let that sink in, he continued. "I had Lyndsay make weapons and long range sensors her priority and we did a scan of the area and we didn't find any anomalies or wormholes that could have brought us here."

"So that's what Captain Janeway meant." Harry mumbled to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing." Harry said with a shake of his head. "What about Lt. Stadi?"

"The Doc found out that the damage to her brain was more severe than he originally thought." Tom started. "She's still alive but he had to put her in a medically induced coma to save her life. He doesn't know when she'll wake up or... if she ever will."

"So it really is all in my hands." Harry replied as he tried to move his arm, wincing with the effort. "I have one more question. What the hell do, we do now?"

"We get home, Harry." Tom replied as he put a hand on his new friends shoulder, before he reached past him and picked up a PADD. "I made a list of all of the people who are next in line to be department heads. It looks like you still need some sleep, so I'll just tell them to concentrate on fixing the ship until you decide to have a meeting with them."

"Nnnooo." Harry stammered nervously. "Tell them to meet me in the Ready room in about twenty minutes."

"Are you sure?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow. "You should probably..."

"I'm sure." Harry replied more confidently.

"All right, I'll let them know." Tom replied as he turned to leave.

"Tom." Harry called out as the pilot made it to the door.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned around.

"Thank you." Harry said as Tom gave him a nod and walked out of the room. Left alone, Harry turned around and looked at Captain Janeway's nightstand. Seeing a picture he picked it up and saw a image of Captain Janeway and a man he assumed was her boyfriend. "I'm sorry." Harry mumbled as he put the picture back down and loosely thought about his girlfriend Libby on Earth.

Even at maximum speeds it would take Voyager nearly seventy years to get back home. In his heart of hearts he knew that Libby wouldn't wait for him forever but a small part of him wished that she would if he could get the ship back faster then that. Then another thought hit him and he knew that there was no reason for her to wait. Starfleet would probably believe that the ship was destroyed with all hands lost and there was no way to contact them to tell them otherwise.

Pushing those dark thoughts down, he turned and walked over to the replicator. Making sure it worked, he typed into the console and watched as it lit up. "Computer make me a Starfleet command red tunic with Captain's pips, with these measurements."

As it materialized in the replicator he stripped off his bloodstained gold tunic and replaced it with the red one. It was time to get to work.

* * *

><p>Harry stared in the mirror in Captain Janeway's... no his bedroom, he guessed he had to get used to saying that, and noticed how flush his face was. Running some warm water in the sink, he started to splash some on his face, before looking up at his reflection again. He had always wanted to become Captain one day, those were his hopes and dreams, but not like this. Not so soon and especially not after such a disaster like this that stranded them in the Delta Quadrant, killing off the entire command team, and leaving the ship with over thirty people less then what it needed to stay operational.<p>

'I'm no leader.' he thought to himself. 'How the hell am I supposed to get these people home?'

Because I believe in you Harry. He could practically hear Janeway's voice say in his mind. Now tuck in that shirt and get to work.

With a smile on his face, her motherly voice gave him all the motivation he needed. Making sure his shirt was indeed tucked in, he straightened his new uniform and walked out of the bathroom. Scooping up the PADD Tom had given him earlier, he walked out of his quarters and started to read reports and what the people who Tom had selected that held the ship together while he was out of it.

Walking down the corridor he saw repair crews fixing the ship and clearing debris. Ignoring the urge to help them, he decided to give them an encouraging nod, as he continued his walk to the Ready room. He noticed that some of the crew stopped what they were doing and watched him as he went. He could only assume that they were watching him because he was wearing pips that gave him the rank of Captain. Knowing that this transition was going to be rough on all of them, he decided to get back to his report and walk into a turbo lift.

Ready Room

"You mean to tell me that you want to follow a guy that faints when he finds out he's in charge?" Ensign Rollins asked with outrage as he looked around the room. He was a tall man with dark eyes, brown hair, and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his face.

"Hey he had a concussion!" Tom snapped, in defense of his friend as he folded his arms over his chest at the end of the table. "How would you feel if you had one of those and was hit with the knowledge that you were in charge?"

"As if I'm going to listen to a murderous convict!" Rollins snapped back.

"Will you two cool it?" Ensign Lyndsay Ballard asked. She was a tall woman, with dark brown hair and even though she seemed angry and annoyed at the moment anybody that knew her knew that playfulness and mischief danced behind her eyes. "Let's at least give him a chance too..."

Before she could finish her statement, the person they were talking about suddenly walked into the room. Lyndsay smiled as she looked at his face and saw that he still seemed as green and baby faced as when she met him in the Academy. She had to note one more thing as she stared into his eyes and saw something new in them. It took a minute to figure out what it was but for the first time since she'd known him she saw a look of pure determination burning inside his dark eyes.

Catching her looking at him, Harry gave her a nervous smile before sitting down at the table. As he placed the PADD he was reading on the table, Rollins started to speak up.

"Before we get started with this little charade sir..." Rollins said the last part with venom dripping from his voice. "Let me just say that I don't think you're cut out to be Captain. While you were... sleeping... the rest of us were working and trying to figure out how we got here."

As he said that all Harry could do was blink, a ball of spit caught in his throat. All the courage he had felt earlier was now gone just by hearing a few sentences. Blinking again, he had a brief thought that maybe the other man was right.

"Well... if... if you think that you can do a better job..." Harry started nervously as he caught a glimpse of movement in the room. Looking up towards the other end of the table, he saw Captain Janeway standing behind Tom with her hands on the other man's shoulder. Seeing that no one else could see her made him think he was going crazy, but seeing her smiling face gave him the courage he needed, before she blinked away. Seeing that everyone was looking towards him so he could finish his sentence, he did just that. "... then you'll have to wait your turn. If and when Lt. Stadi regains consciousness, I will remain in command of Voyager. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Rollins replied with wide eyes. Not expecting that from the younger man.

"I've been reading up on all of your personal profiles and I have to pick a new command structure." Harry continued. "From what Tom told me and from what I read Lyndsay, I was told that you stabilized the warp core and pulled it together in Engineering to start the effort to get this ship put back together."

"You didn't have to read up anything about me to know that I could do any of that Harry." Lyndsay replied with an easy smile. One that Harry didn't return. This was truly a new Mr. Kim that she was looking at because in the Academy she would have at least gotten a smile out of him. Seeing how serious he was she swallowed hard and met his unwavering gaze. "I mean sir. Yes, I did sir."

"Good, do you think you can handle being the ships new Chief Engineer?"

With Chief Scott and Joe Carey dead do I really have much of a choice? Lyndsay asked herself. "I know I can do it. I won't let you down."

"I'll upgrade your status to Lieutenant and when you get done fixing the ship, I'd like you to start upgrading the Doctor." Harry went on. "He's only meant to be a temporary replacement for a physician and we're a long way from Starfleet."

"I'll get a team on that right away, sir." Lt. Ballard replied with a shake of her head.

That's one hurdle out of the way. Captain Kim thought to himself as he looked further down the table, towards a thin, cute yet mousy young woman. "I heard that you're a pretty decent pilot Ensign... Jetal."

"Ye... yes sir." Ahni Jetal replied nervously.

"Well do you think you can fly a starship?"

"I... I'll do my best."

"That's all that I ask for." Harry told her with a smile, hoping that it would help her to relax, which it did. "You'll keep the rank of Ensign at least for now." Looking further down the table he gave a beautiful Indian woman named Lyssa Campbell, who spoke with an English accent, his old job at OPS, he bumped her up to Lieutenant and wished her luck. Now came the hard part. "Ensign Rollins about what I said earlier, maybe one day you'll serve as this ships Captain but for now I'd like for you to be this ships second in command and it's new Tactical officer and Chief of Security."

"Wait, if I'm the second in command then who's the first?" Rollins asked in confusion.

"I've made that decision already and I know a lot of you might not agree with it." Harry replied as he looked around the room. "The person I chose as the Commander of this ship is Tom Paris."

"Me?" Tom asked with wide eyes.

"Him?!" the newly appointed Lt. Commander Rollins exploded. "You want a murderous convict as this ships First Officer? He's not even in Starfleet."

"But he was." Harry replied, surprised at how calm he sounded. "Regardless of his past we're all stuck in a jam now and Tom is the only one who kept a cool head throughout all of this. From the report he gave me and from the people I talked to he was the only one that organized everyone together to fix this ship, to do scans on how we got here, and to make sure everyone got treated for injuries. Please tell me what were you doing?" as he asked that question, Rollins could only stare at him with wide eyes. "Exactly. No one in this room had a problem taking orders from him before and I don't see the problem now." he said as he searched the faces in the room before looking to Tom. "That is if you want to accept my offer?"

Searching the faces of the people who were in the room himself, Tom found that most of them were encouraging except for Lt. Commander Rollins. Swallowing the lump that formed in his own throat Tom looked to his new best friend. "Yeah... yeah I'll take you up on that offer."

"Good." Harry replied as he let out a sigh. He didn't know what he'd do if Tom said no. "I want everyone to get changed and report to their stations. We'll hold position here and do some additional scans of this area and see what we can find. Dismissed."

As Captain Kim said that, everyone started to walk out of the room, Tom pausing for only a second to give him a nod. Letting go of a breath, he didn't know he was holding, Harry stood to his feet and started to stare out at the still stars. He jumped a little as a familiar warm hand touched him on the shoulder.

"You did a good job, Captain." Janeway said as she stared out at the stars herself. "But there's one thing you have to do before you can truly become Captain of this ship." whispering in his ear, Harry smiled and walked over to the Ready rooms replicator.

"Computer, coffee black." he said as a cup of java materialized on the replicator pad.

Bridge

Some hours later

After the funeral of his fallen comrades and getting something to eat, Harry walked onto the bridge and looked around at everyone standing at their post. Taking it all in, he made his way down to the command center.

"Captain on the bridge." Commander Rollins called out as Harry passed him. At least Harry had earned some respect from the other man.

Sitting in his chair, Captain Kim looked back to Lt. Campbell for a report. "Did you find anything new in your scans?"

"No sir." Lt. Campbell replied, her beautiful English accent sounding like a song. "Long range sensors still aren't detecting anything unusual that could have brought us here. Not even a nearby planet so people can tell us what might have happened."

Then, I guess we have to do this the hard way. Harry thought to himself as Tom leaned in to whisper to him.

"We can't stay in this part of space forever."

Agreeing with him, Harry ordered Lt. Campbell to scan the area one last time before looking towards his Helmswoman. "Ensign Jetal set a course." Harry started as he sat back in his chair.

"For where, sir?" Jetal asked, as she chanced a glance at the ships new Captain. Giving each other a look, Harry gave Tom a nod.

"Set a course... for home." Commander Paris ordered as Jetal's fingers danced along her console.

A/N There's going to be plenty more where this came from guys and I know that you're going to like it. Plus the next chapter is going to show what happened to some other people from Voyager. If you have any questions or comments let me know.


	3. Chapter 2 The Kazon pt 1

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. Reviews keep this story alive. Just as a warning the end of this chapter talks about the subject matter of rape. You've been warned.

Chapter 2

The Kazon pt. 1

_Acting Captain's Log Supplemental: Lt. Ballard has finally completed repairs on the ship and has started working on the Doctor now. Speaking of which, he reported to me that there was no change in Lt. Stadi's condition. He also informed me that he couldn't take over as CMO without a rank, so I've given him the rank of a junior grade lieutenant. I want the crew to be ready for whatever's out here so Lt. Commander Rollins is putting together a new security team. Before we leave the area we'll take time to resupply the ship, before setting a course back to the Alpha Quadrant._

The Bridge

Ensign Jetal didn't like the way Commander Paris was leaning over her shoulder, watching the helm station's readouts. For one thing, he was making noises: small "hmms" and "uh-huhs" like an Academy instructor, making it clear he was critiquing her performance, as if she wasn't good enough. For another, she was sure that he was looking at her breasts.

"Set course 145 mark 12, warp 2." said Paris.

"That's a little slow isn't it sir?" Jetal asked as she turned around to look at him.

"It is but we have to take it slow since we're approaching the edge of this system." Paris replied with a smile. "Besides we're searching for supplies remember?"

"Commander have a seat." Harry spoke up, seeing that Tom was teasing his new Helmswoman. With another wince, Harry took another dose of painkiller, that he had gotten from the Doctor and injected it directly into his shoulder, where it did almost nothing. Gritting his teeth, he was happy that the pain wasn't as bad as it was yesterday, but it still hurt like a bitch. "I think Ensign Jetal can do her job."

Letting out a sigh, Tom gave Ensign Jetal another look, before he took a seat next to the Captain. Giving him a sideways glance, Harry shook his head.

"Sir, long range sensors have just detected another ship entering the system at warp." Lt. Campbell reported. "It's on it's way to the inner system."

"Yellow alert." said Harry as he and Tom shared a look, before the bridge lightly dimmed. Hopefully whoever is on that ship has some answers on how we got here. Harry thought to himself.

"We've arrived at the coordinates, sir." Campbell reported after a few minutes.

"Good. Hail the alien ship." Harry replied.

"Hailing frequencies open." said Campbell. "Audio only."

"This is act... this is Captain Harry Kim of the Federation starship Voyager. Please identify yourself."

There was a long pause, making Harry wonder if the alien had heard him or not. "Go away," said a gruff voice on the other end.

Harry's eyes shot up and he looked towards Tom. At least he's not shooting at us, he thought. That's progress.

"Unidentified ship..."

"My name is Neelix, my ship is the Baxial, and I paid the Kazon Ogla for salvage rights in this field, so you can just scram." Neelix replied. "Take it up with them if you don't like it."

With a roll of his eyes, Harry made a "mute" gesture at Campbell, prompting her to mute the audio.

"Hostile little guy, isn't he?" Tom asked, as a few members of the crew nodded in agreement.

"He hasn't shot at us yet," Harry spoke up. "This is an uncharted part of space and for all we know that might pass for hospitality around here." with that said he gestured for Campbell to unmute the com-channel. "Mr. Neelix, we're not interested in jumping your salvage claim. We're a long way from home and we're just looking for some information."

"Tell him you'll pay him," Tom whispered. He had previous experience with traders, con-artists and salesmen and he knew that that ploy would work.

"We're willing to pay you for your time." Harry went on. It was worth a shot.

There was another pause, but this time it was very brief.

"Captain, he's opened a video channel." Campbell reported as she worked her station.

I'm glad I made Tom my XO. Harry thought to himself. "Put it on screen."

Campbell did, and Harry and Tom had to fight to not burst out in laughter. The alien on screen was short and stocky, made to look even shorter by an unflattering camera angle. He had a stiff mane on top of his head and spotted skin on his temples. The cockpit of his little ship was strewn with debris. He wore a suit of lavishly clashing colors.

He looks like a hedgehog, Harry thought. A hedgehog crossed with a used car salesman.

Neelix smiled at the camera, showing a mouth full of pointed teeth. "Greetings," he said. "What, um, what would you be willing to pay me?"

"Well, I doubt our currency is worth anything in this Quadrant of space." Harry spoke up, considering what else they could do. "But we'd be happy to barter supplies or services."

"Services?" Tom mouthed as he and Harry shared another look, making the Captain hunch up his shoulders.

Neelix seemed to think about that for a minute. Finally, he said, "How much water can you spare?"

* * *

><p>"Ahhhhhhhh," said Neelix, as he slid into the bathtub of near-scalding water. The bathroom was thick with steam. Harry and Tom looked on. Apparently, Neelix didn't value his privacy much, or had a different concept of it from the rest of them.<p>

He also stank like a monkey's ass and as if the computer knew it, it automatically dispensed soap into the water.

"I have to conserve water on my little ship," said Neelix. "Don't even have a shower. Ahhh...this is nice, forgot how nice a hot bath was." As he said that he seemed to get lost in thought and he suddenly looked self-conscious. "You know, my people are actually very hygienic. But when it's just me for weeks and weeks, there's no reason to waste water on a bath. That's what stations are for."

"And your people are...?" Tom asked.

"Talaxians, natives of Talaxia. About seven hundred light years away from here. I'm from a moon called Rinax...used to be a nice place."

"Used to be?" Harry asked with a frown, feeling that something wasn't right.

Neelix appeared somber for a moment. "Yeah. There was a...well, there was a big war. We, um, lost." Then he shook it off, and his voice and body language became upbeat again. "But, no use dwelling on the past, right? So where are you fine folks from?"

"We're from the United Federation of Planets," Harry replied, trying to match Neelix with his chipper attitude. "Tom and I are humans, from a planet called Earth."

"If you're from Earth," Neelix started in confusion. "...then why aren't you called Earthians?"

Harry and Tom looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess because it doesn't sound very good in our native language." Harry answered, which Tom figured was as good an answer as any.

"I see," said Neelix. "So where is this Federation of yours?"

"About seventy-five thousand light years from here" Harry informed him.

"Oooh, that's quite a ways. We don't see many from that far off."

"You mean there's been more like us?" Tom asked, suddenly perking up. He was hell bent in believing that this venture with Neelix was going to turn out to be a bust but now...

"Oh, yes! It was one or two every year, for years. Lately, though, it's been one or two a month. Nobody knows why the Caretaker does it. Usually it grabs them from somewhere nearby, but once in a while it reaches way out and snags somebody like you."

"The Caretaker? Who is that? Does he live on that station you told us about?" Harry asked, his mind going a mile a minute now.

"As far as anybody knows, he is the station." Neelix replied. "Nobody knows why he does it. It's been good business for the Kazon, though. And those of us living off the Kazons' table scraps." He suddenly looked embarrassed. "Not that, you know, it isn't terrible for the poor people who get sucked out here."

Harry chose to ignore the faux pas. "Why is he called the 'Caretaker'? What's he taking care of?"

"Nobody knows that either," he said. "If you ask me, there's something on the planet that he's orbiting. But that's just a guess."

"Has it ever taken another Federation starship?" Tom asked, just for the hell of it.

"I don't know." Neelix answered. "Usually we only find out about the ones Jal Jabin catches."

"Who is he?" Harry asked. "Who are the Kazons?"

"Jal Jabin? He's the Maje-boss-of this system. He reports directly to First Maje Jal Razik. He's the boss of the entire Ogla sect. They're the biggest Kazon sect, and they own everything from here to about fifty light years spinward."

"How many more sects are there?" Tom asked, getting engrossed in the alien's story.

"There are eighteen big sects," Neelix blurted out, but then he thought about it for a second. "Or nineteen. Sixteen. It's hard to remember; they're always marrying each other and having civil wars and the like. And then there are hundreds of smaller sects. Some of them are just one extended family with one ship. They fight each other all the time, unless they have someone else to fight." He eyed Harry and Tom. "People like you. Jal Jabin has hundreds of kills, if you believe him."

"Does anybody ever defeat him?" Tom asked.

"Sometimes," Neelix considered. "Most people just try to run away, but sometimes they fight. There was one species-a 'Jam Haddar'-which deliberately rammed their ship into Predator-that's his ship. It took them almost a year to repair it."

At least somebody fought back. Harry thought to himself.

"Captain, you might not want to stay here too long," Neelix replied, suddenly looking afraid. "Jal Jabin doesn't like sharing his loot, but if the Ogla think you're a threat, they'll come here with more ships to attack you."

"That's their mistake, then," Tom replied, but Harry could hear a whisper of uncertainty in his voice and even though he only knew him for a short time he could also see it in his eyes.

"We'd like to get out of here before the Kazons even know that we're here." Harry started. "That is if they haven't already detected us with their sensors. How do you know the Caretaker's name anyway?"

"Well, I know because it told the Kazons."

"It communicated with them?" Harry asked, his heart pounding. For the first time, they had something to communicate with. If you could communicate with it, you could negotiate with it.

Chancing a glance at Tom he looked to be having the same thoughts. Neelix tried to let them down easy. "It was only once, years ago. It told them they could come into the system, but they couldn't build a base here and they weren't allowed to try to board the station."

"Did they ever try?" Tom asked.

"Well, they could never find a way into the station," said Neelix. "But they tried building a space station, yes. In orbit of this planet."

"What happened to it?" Harry had to know.

"The Caretaker...moved it."

"Moved it where?"

Neelix started to fidget. "Um...the sun," he said.

"The Caretaker threw the station in orbit of the sun?" Harry asked.

"No," said Neelix. "It threw the station into the sun."

Tom and Harry then looked at each other, none of them able to think of anything useful to say. The tension however was broken by the intercom. **Bridge to Captain Kim.**

"Kim here." Harry said as he slapped at his com-badge.

**We're about ten minutes away from the coordinates that Mr. Neelix provided us, sir.** Campbell said over the com-line. **The sensors are also detecting a large space station in the distance.**

At least Neelix was telling us the truth about that. "We're on our way." Harry replied as he turned around just as Neelix started climbing out of the bathtub. Alarmed, Harry and Tom turned away; Tom tossing him a towel as he turned his head.

"Well," said Neelix. "It would probably be best if I got back to my ship. You're lovely people, but all that scrap isn't going to sort itself. If, um, you feel like throwing in a little extra payment, that'd be appreciated."

"Wait," Harry replied. "Has the Caretaker ever sent anybody home?"

"To be honest with you Captain, no. At least not that I know of." said Neelix. "The only way home is probably going to be the long way."

Kazon Vessel

"Move you stupid bitch!" a large Kazon male snapped out as he roughly yanked on the chains of his new slave girl. She was one of the Caretakers newest victims that he had deposited on that stupid useless Ocampa planet. She was an exotic beauty with cranial ridges and a bad attitude.

He had to admit that he liked her feisty attitude and the little thing put up a hell of a fight but in the end he had raped her several times over the last past week.

Pushing her roughly into a cage the young beauty fell at the feet of an equally beautiful elfish blond. Waiting until the Kazon male left the room, the blond reached down to help the fallen woman, only for her to literally growl at her and push her away.

"Take it easy." the petite blond said as she jumped to another corner of her cell. "I... I just wanted to see if, I could help."

"Unless you... unless you know a way out of here you can't help me!" the woman yelled back as she wiped a line of blood from her bottom lip and huddled in a corner. If only she hadn't of climbed out of those hidden tunnels on that planet, she wouldn't be in this mess. What made it even worse was she couldn't even use her full strength against her attackers because they were using some kind of muscle stimulant on her and that was combined with the fact that she had some kind of disease because of what they called the Caretaker.

"Look the Kazon... the Kazon took advantage of me too." the blond replied as she hung her head down in shame. "We shouldn't be fighting each other." Seeing that the alien woman didn't care about what she was saying, she tried another tactic. "My name is Kes."

Dropping her guard for a second the other woman, looked up at Kes and told her, her name. "I'm B'Elanna."

A/N Harry and the Voyager crew will finally meet the Kazon in the next chapter. And believe me it's going to get very rough after that. Please review. I also wanted to answer a question someone had about the light year discrepancy that they read in stories about Voyager. According to the Starfleet scale, it takes 70,000 light years to make it to the Alpha Quadrant from where Voyager is now and another 5,000 light years from entering the Alpha Quadrant to get back to Earth. That's why people on the show were flipping back and forth when they said 70,000 and 75,000 light years from home. I hope that answers that question.


	4. Chapter 3 The Kazon pt 2

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. I actually changed part of this chapter after reading your review Allen. It made me laugh and I hope it makes you laugh too. Don't worry Harry isn't going to be much of a wimp or as rule bound as Captain Janeway was, in this fic, because like I said I want this series to be raw and gritty and believe me Voyager is going to have a knock out drag out fight with the Kazons, that I hope you guys think will be epic, so please don't judge this engagement as how this series is going to go.

Also to guest, I'm really happy that you're enjoying this so far and I hope you keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying this. I know a lot of people are ambivalent about Harry but I'm glad you decided to give him and this story a chance.

Chapter 3

The Kazon pt. 2

In front of him, on the view-screen, was an image of the yellow planet they'd found themselves orbiting, and an alien space station. The star and the planet weren't on any charts in the database, but thanks to Neelix they were able to correct that with new star charts, and the space station refused to respond to their hails. They hadn't bothered hailing the planet; there wasn't any point because the planet was dead.

"Captain, we're being hailed!" Campbell reported. "Audio only."

Maybe they're friendly, thought Harry. "Put it on speaker."

A deep, scratchy, arrogant male voice boomed over the speakers. "Unidentified ship, this is Jal Jabin of the Kazon-Ogla. Come about and prepare to be boarded. If you surrender without a fight, everybody lives. If you don't, you and your entire crew will be killed."

No such luck on them being friendly. "Ms. Campbell, show me the source of that transmission."

"It's... it's coming from the space station, sir." Campbell replied nervously as she and Harry shared a look.

"The station?" Harry asked. Have the Kazon and the Caretaker made a alliance? "Tom, stop Neelix before he leaves and bring him to the Bridge."

With a nod, Tom ran for the turbolift.

"Sir, a ship is entering this sector of space."

"Put it onscreen." Harry ordered.

A massive brown ship, shaped vaguely like the head of a squid, appeared on the view-screen, approaching them at relatively low speed. It had snuck up on them undetected at warp-another bad sign for Voyager's readiness, but not one that Harry could afford to worry about at the moment.

"Red alert." Harry said as the klaxons sounded. "This is Captain Harry Kim of the Federation starship..." He was interrupted by a flash of weapons fire from the Kazon vessel and a sudden explosion on Voyager. The ship shook with the impact of the Kazon weapon as alarms started howling around the bridge. "Damage report!?"

"They're using electromagnetically propelled photon charges." Rollins reported from Tactical. "It penetrated the saucer, deck four portside, just aft of the forward turboshaft. Sections 408 and 409 are venting atmosphere."

"That was merely a warning, Voyager. You have thirty seconds to reply." Jabin's voice said over the comline.

For a moment, Harry was frozen. Everyone on the bridge was looking at him on what to do. Looking back to Rollins, for a suggestion, Harry saw Captain Janeway standing behind him.

"Get this ship out of here Harry." Janeway ordered. "You're not ready for this."

Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, Harry looked to the Helm. "Jetal, reverse course and get us out of here. Evasion pattern alpha. Maximum warp."

"Aye, sir." Jetal replied as her little hands danced on the console.

"Captain!" Rollins shouted as the two men shared a look.

"We're not ready for this yet, Rollins." Harry swallowed again, as the ship turned around and streaked off into the black. Not wanting to pick a fight, at least not yet, Rollins backed off and watched as Paris and Neelix walked onto the Bridge.

"There's no sign of pursuit by the Kazon, sir." Campbell reported.

"Good. Neelix, Tom go to the Ready room." Harry said as he stood to his feet and looked to Lyssa. "Have someone come in with reports on the scans that were taken from the array and of the planet as soon as they can. Mr. Rollins you have the Bridge."

"Aye sir." Rollins and Campbell said at the same time as Harry and the other men walked into the Ready room.

As soon as the Captain was out of sight and out of earshot, Rollins put a frown on his face before he walked over to Lt. Lyssa Campbell. "That's what I was talking about before Lyssa." Rollins started. "As soon as we come around a little danger, he wants to tuck tail and run."

"What else was he supposed to do?" Lyssa argued. "These Kazon apparently have control over the array. The same array that we speculate sent us here in the first place. With power like that at their disposal wouldn't you run too?"

Harumping, Rollins spun on his heel and sat down in the Captain's chair. Satisfied Lyssa rolled her eyes at his antics and got back to work.

Ready Room

"Coffee, black." Harry said to the replicator as a cup of hot coffee materialized on the food pad. Turning he saw Neelix watching him carefully as he took a seat. Taking a sip of the coffee, Harry sat down and eyed the alien carefully. "Neelix, I'm going to ask you this once and I want you to be truthful. Are you working for the Kazon?"

"What?!" Neelix asked as his eyelids shot up. "Of course not. I... I sometimes barter with them for supplies but we're not friends if that's what you're asking."

"I want you to understand how this looks to me, Neelix." Harry said as he took another sip of coffee, savoring it's bitter taste, as he stared at the alien man evenly. "You told us that the Caretaker wasn't affiliated with the Kazon but when we arrive here the Kazon are inside of the Caretaker's array and a Kazon ship is waiting for us."

"Harry what are you suggesting?" Tom asked, curious himself of where the other man was going with his story.

"I'm suggesting that Neelix intentionally led us here so that the Kazon could attack us and take our technology." Harry continued. "They're probably sharing technology from their victims."

"Now hold on a minute... I"

"I don't think that's what's going on Harry." Tom spoke up, cutting his Neelix off. He didn't know Neelix well but his gut was telling him that he was honest. Well as honest as he could be for a salesman.

"Don't you think it's a little convenient that he just happens to show up when we're in the area?" Harry asked. "For all we know there is no Caretaker and the Kazon are the ones bringing ships to this Quadrant and Neelix is more or less their Trojan horse."

"I have to admit that it does sound... possible." Tom admitted.

"Either way, Neelix you're staying with us until we can figure something out." Harry said as he looked from the Talaxian to his First Officer. "Tom show Neelix to some quarters."

"But Captain I..." Neelix stopped speaking as he looked into the young man's eyes and saw that what ever he had to say wouldn't matter. Lowering his head, he walked out of the door. Giving Harry a withering glance, Tom followed the alien out of the room.

Finishing his cup of coffee in silence the doors suddenly hissed open and Ensign Samantha Wildman entered. She was human, of medium height and build, square-faced, blonde, twenty-two. Just like he was before the disaster she was not yet due for a promotion to lieutenant (j.g.). And also just like him, she was practically a baby in diapers, running an entire department in a dire emergency.

She hesitated as she approached the table, unsure where to sit. Harry gestured for her to take a seat next to him and when she did, she brought up her PADD.

"All right, Samantha... please give me your report."

"Do you want to hear the report on the station first, what little we know of the Kazon, or the planet?"

"The station." Harry said.

Wildman frowned. "We don't have much. Our sensors can't penetrate more than a few centimeters beneath the surface. We're still trying to get a handle on the material composition, but nobody seems to know where our quantum spectrometer is and-"

"It's on DS9," Harry replied. "If you can't find it, that's where it is. Captain Janeway left most of our scientific equipment behind because this was supposed to be a quick mission. Plus we were supposed to go back and get more people who hadn't arrived on the station yet."

"Er, right," said Wildman. "We have learned a few things by examining the surface."

"Like what?"

"Well for one it's really old." Wildman said as she pulled up some photos of it on her PADD. "If our carbon dating analysis is correct this station may have been constructed over a hundred thousand years ago."

"Any idea who created it?" Harry asked as his lips suddenly went dry. "Do you think it could have been the Kazons?"

Wildman shook her head. "That's very unlikely sir. Judging from the ship we encountered they aren't all that advanced. They might be bigger then us and it might even be a rough battle but Voyager could blow that ship out of the water." she stopped to let him think about that before continuing. "Sir whatever made that station is eons ahead of us and most certainly the Kazon."

So Neelix was telling the truth. But why were the Kazon on that ship? Does it have an alliance with the Kazon or could the Caretaker have died and they took over. "OK. Anything else on the station?"

"No sir. Not yet."

"Fine." Harry replied, not feeling fine at all. "What about the planet?"

Wildman perked up. "That's more interesting." She tapped her PADD, bringing up a long list of facts and figures about the planet. "Class N terrestrial; atmospheric composition 96.5% Carbon dioxide, 3.5% Nitrogen, 0.015% Sulfur dioxide, miscellaneous trace gases. Atmospheric pressure 90 bar. Mean surface temperature 735 kelvin. Surface completely obscured by sulfuric acid clouds. One moon, composed of metal-poor silicate rocks, likely formed by an ancient glancing collision with another planetesimal."

"Sounds like a typical class N, except for the moon," Harry replied.

"That's where it stops being typical, sir. We made a radar map of the surface. Look at this." She tapped on the PADD and turned it so Harry could see.

Class N planets-like Venus, a typical example-had distinctive surfaces. They had liquid mantles with active convection, like class-M planets, but without oceans to lubricate tectonic plates-impossible at such surface temperatures-the crust was too rigid for tectonics. Instead, the heat and pressure built up in the interior until the crust failed entirely, and the entire planet was resurfaced in a planetary-scale volcanic event. It had happened to Venus in 2330, undoing a century and a half of terraforming efforts and embarrassing the Federation Geological Survey, which had predicted the next resurfacing was thirty million years off. The resurfacing events created a distinctive, easily-identified surface of vast basaltic plains, with a few continent-sized volcanic uplands, riven with cracks and faults, randomly splotched about the planet.

This planet did not look like that.

Harry wasn't a geologist by training, but anyone who had ever looked at a topographic map of a class M planet would have recognized these features-oceanic basins with central spreading ridges and subduction trenches along the edges, continental shelves, river valley systems and fan-shaped deltas, upthrust mountains, earthquake faults, glacier scars and glacial lake beds at high latitudes, even identifiable sedimentary structures. All of it desiccated and baking at temperatures hot enough to melt lead-the high mountains even had deposits of lead oxide "snow" at their peaks-but very obviously formed by familiar class-M processes.

"This is a ruined class-M," Harry noticed. "Not a natural N." Wildman nodded. "Was it inhabited?"

"Yes," said Wildman. "We've detected concentrations of refined metals, disturbances to the landscape indicative of agriculture and mining, and the ruins of structures."

Harry closed his eyes. Starfleet had discovered worlds like this from time to time-worlds inadvertently ruined by their own inhabitants pushing the climate into greenhouse tip over. Sometimes the species survived in space, living in habitats and asteroids. Sometimes...they didn't. Whoever lived on this planet hadn't.

Maybe Wildman had guessed what he was thinking. "It wasn't their fault, Captain. Look." She played another slideshow on her PADD. Radar and subspace images of ruined structures, enhanced by the computer, flipped by. All of them were masonry, heavy, rough, primitive. No flying buttresses, no domes, not even any arches. The styles were subtly different, but most were variations on "big pile of rocks" like Egyptian or Mayan pyramids, with the most sophisticated structures looking vaguely Egyptian or Minoan; thick stone walls and massive columns. "The only refined metals we detected were bronze and very little iron. No steel, no aluminum."

"The acidic properties in the atmosphere," said Harry.

"It wouldn't have eaten it all away." said Wildman. "Most of it never reaches the surface. It's so hot down there it disassociates. No culture on this planet got past the iron age. They didn't ruin their world."

Harry steepled his fingers. "You wouldn't be bothering with all this buildup if it were natural, would you?" he asked.

"No sir" said Wildman. "Look." She called up one last picture on the PADD. It was a tower, more than a kilometer high. "It's made of the same stuff as the station. There are thirty more just like it still standing, and more which have collapsed." She highlighted a ruined structure near its base. Harry thought it was small, until Wildman zoomed in and a scale indicator appeared. It was an enormous building, set at the nexus of a dozen radial avenues lined with more ruined buildings. "What do you think that is?"

"It looks like a temple." Harry said as he squinted his eyes. "They worshiped these towers." He then turned to Wildman. "Did the towers have anything to do with what happened to the atmosphere?"

"We don't know for sure," said Wildman. "But given the geological and astronomical evidence, it's very unlikely the greenhouse tip over happened naturally, and those towers are the only evidence of advanced industrial culture on the surface. How it could have happened, none of us have any idea. I'd like to launch a probe to study one of the towers up close."

"After we deal with the Kazon you have permission to do what you need to do." Harry replied, lost in thought for a moment. Seeing that Samantha was still sitting there, he gave her a look and then a soft smile. "You're dismissed."

Gathering her things, Samantha headed for the door but stopped short of walking out. "So we're going back to that system?"

"Yeah... we're going to run some battle drills but we're going back into the lions den." Harry replied, a bit shaken up by his own resolve.

"Do you think we're going to win?" Samantha asked nervously.

"You said it yourself that the Kazon are primitive and that we can take them." Harry said with a nod. "Don't worry, we'll get out of this and hopefully back to the Alpha Quadrant."

"I hope you're right." Samantha mumbled as she walked out of the door.

"I hope so too." he mumbled to himself as Lyndsay Ballard walked into the room.

"Harry, I just fixed this damn ship." Lyndsay started with a fake scowl. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I... I..." Harry stammered as the "Wild Card" Lyndsay Ballard smiled at him.

"I was just playing with you Harry, relax." she said playfully. "Minor damage was done to the ship and my team should be done fixing it within the next couple of hours."

"Oh... ummm good." Harry replied as he let out a breath he didn't know that he was holding. That was until she sat in his lap and turned his chair until both of them were looking out into the stars.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking these last couple of days, Harry." she said as she looped an arm around his shoulder. "It's going to be a long way back to the Alpha Quadrant and I don't know how you feel about me but..."

"Lyndsay... I'm.. I'm not doing this!" Harry shouted as he made her get off of him, as he struggled to stand to his feet. "I have a girlfriend named Libby back home. When we go back to the Caretaker array..."

"You're going to take us back there?" she asked with wide eyes, trying to ignore the hurt of being rejected.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm going to take us back." he replied, straightening his uniform. "And I'm going to need this ship in tip top condition when we do."

"I... I understand." Lt. Ballard said as she swiftly rushed toward the door.

"Lyndsay!" Harry called out, making her stop and turn to look at her. He knew that the pain she was feeling was reflected in his own eyes. Somewhere in the depths of his heart and in the pit of his soul he knew that he'd never see Libby again, at least not for a very long time. "If things don't turn out the way I hope..."

"I gotcha, Captain." Ballard replied as she spun on her heel and walked out of the door. She was plan B.

Letting out another sigh, Harry sat down heavily in his chair and stared out of the window. Just what kind of adventure were they about to embark on.

Neelix's Quarters

"You have my word Commander Paris, I'm not working with the Kazon." Neelix pleaded as he paced around his room.

"I told you Neelix, I believe you." Tom said as he kept an eye on the nervous alien. "We're going to get to the bottom of this one way or another."

"I... I do need to tell you something though." Neelix replied as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "It's something, I should have told you earlier."

"What is it?" Tom asked as he crossed his arms over his shoulders.

"Well I... a few months ago when I was negotiating with the Kazon on planet Ocampa, I met this beautiful young lady named Kes..."

Kazon Vessel

Predator

"Were you able to get any scans from that vessel that came into our space?" Jal Jabin asked as one of his officers walked onto the bridge.

"No sir, we didn't." the officer replied. "If we could manage to get the Caretakers array working properly then we could bring that ship here and learn all of it's precious secrets."

"Yes... that ship did seem sleek and new didn't it?" Jabin asked, speaking more to himself then to the other Kazon male. "I have a feeling that soon we won't have to use the array to bring that ship... Voyager to us. I believe they will return on their own." a mischievous grin appearing on his face another thought popped into his head. "Bring one of those new slave wenches to my bed chamber."

"Which one sir?"

"Bring me the blond one." Jabin replied as he sat back in his chair. "I don't feel like struggling with the other one."

"Yes Maje." his officer said as he walked off of the bridge.

Sitting in silence, except for the sturdy clicks of his pilot typing at his console, Maje Jabin thought about all of the new technology he hoped to find and steal from Voyager. He just hoped that that beautiful ship didn't get to badly damaged in the battle that he knew would come. Besides he didn't want his new sleek flagship to look too bad when he paid First Maje Razik a little visit and took over his territory. The other man didn't even know that he had possession of the Caretakers array and he wanted to keep it that way since, he nor any of his men could figure out how to use ninety percent of it's technology. Knowing that victory would be at hand if he ever engaged Voyager again, his smile deepened even more.


	5. Chapter 4 The Kazon pt 3

A/N I don't own the names Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, or the Shield. The WWE do, I'm just borrowing them. I only own the ideas of what they do etc... Also Allen, I'm going to answer your question at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 4

The Kazon pt. 3

Voyager

Ready Room

Captain Kim stared around the table at Neelix and his crew with a sense of pride shining through his eyes. They hadn't gotten much sleep in the last couple of days, because they were busy in the holodecks going through battle drills in preparation of the battle that they knew was coming.

No matter what was going to happen when they finally engaged the Kazon, he was proud of himself and his crew for pulling together, if for anything in the pursuit of getting home. Giving Neelix a nod, he silently thanked him for giving them what little Tactical information he had on the Kazon and their ships. Taking a deep breath, he looked to Lyndsay.

"All right, Lyndsay give me your report."

"My team and I fixed the damage that was done by the Kazon and the ship is running at ninety five percent efficiency." she informed him as she looked away from his gaze. Giving her a sad look, he knew that he had broken her heart from earlier, but still he had to move on.

"Mr. Rollins do you have anything to report?" Harry asked as he turned to his second officer.

"Yes sir." Rollins said as he sat up straight in his chair. "We have forty seven active torpedoes, the phaser banks are fully charged and the crew seems to be ready for anything."

As Harry checked in with Jetal and Campbell, he looked to his First Officer and saw that he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Anything on your mind, Commander?" Harry asked as all eyes turned to Tom.

Looking at everyone looking at him, Tom cleared his throat and unfolded his arms. "I was just thinking about a couple of missions, I went on when I was a part of the Maquis."

"Well do you care to share your thoughts with us or not?" Rollins asked, as everyone glared at him. "Ummm, please Commander."

Ignoring the urge to slap the other man, Tom laid out his plan and he was surprised when Neelix and Jetal volunteered for it. Neelix was an obvious choice either way because he had been on a Kazon vessel before and knew the ships layout. He wanted to handle the flying part of the mission but Harry overrode him, saying that his place was on Voyager.

"Ahni, if you do this mission you won't have any immediate back up from Voyager." Harry warned. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Jetal asked as Harry looked around the room at the others before settling his gaze back on her. Giving her a nod, she continued. "I'm not a little kid sir. I'm a grown woman and a Starfleet officer and I'd like to be treated like one."

"All right." Harry replied as he blinked a little at her commanding tone. Ahni Jetal was only a year younger then he was but because of her small frame she looked younger and it instinctively made him want to protect her like he was an older brother. Considering how everyone treated him, he should've been more sensitive to how she felt. "We've all been working hard the last couple of days and I'd like for all of you to get some sleep. We'll start the first phase of Tom's plan in a couple of hours. Ahni, make sure you're ready."

"I will sir." Ensign Jetal replied with a smile. Finally she'd show the others why they should treat her as an adult and not like a little child.

* * *

><p>Ensign Jetal ran like she never had in her entire life, her feet pounding on the deck as she approached the Aeroshuttle airlock. She demanded respect from Captain Kim and the others and here she was running like a school girl because she had overslept. She was exhausted as she knew everyone else probably was, but she was responsible for the first part of this mission. Taking a shortcut, she'd had to come by emergency ladder way, and her heart had been hammering by the time she'd made it to the last rung. She also nearly jumped out of her skin when Commander Paris, grabbed her arm.<p>

"You're late." Tom said sternly, even though a touch of playfulness reached his eyes. A playfulness that Ahni didn't see or recognize as she snapped too.

"Yes I am sir! I won't let it happen again sir!"

Quickly becoming serious, he let out a sigh. "Do you know how to power up a runabout?" Tom asked.

"Yes, sir," Ahni replied. She'd done particularly well on that unit.

"Good. We're already running late so we need to get the Aeroshuttle's transporters online in the next ninety seconds."

Ahni gulped and followed Tom at a dead run through three hundred meters of area. It was amazing because just a few days before the area was half-lit, smoke-filled, debris-clogged lower-deck passageways to the Aeroshuttle docking port. Fortunately, the airlock doors worked since Lt. Ballard and her team fixed everything. Inside, to Ahni's right, were the cabins and cargo spaces and a passageway to engineering. To her left was the standard forward cabin of a Danube class runabout.

Tom pointed to the cockpit. "You start up the ships's systems from there. I'll go operate the transporter. You've got about one minute."

"What are we transporting?" Ahni asked.

"A live photon torpedo, so make sure the voltage is steady." Ahni nodded, swallowed hard, and bolted for the pilot's chair.

As soon as she sat down, the ships control panel lit up, instantly filling Ahni with paralyzing terror. For six, seven heartbeats, she couldn't even read the labels.

"I'm ready when you are!" Tom shouted from the back.

That broke Ensign Jetal out of her trance. Her training rushed back and her fingers danced across the panel. Unfortunately, as the start up procedure unfolded, she realized she was never going to get the impulse reactors started in time, let alone the warp drive. She checked the umbilical connection from Voyager. It was stone dead; Engineering had cut the Aeroshuttle off to conserve power. "Oh, shit," she said.

Then the lights on the panel reminded her. The Aeroshuttle was designed to operate semi-independently, which meant it had a battery, which meant..."You've got power!" she shouted at Tom as she flipped open the circuits.

In the back compartment, Tom activated the transporter and held his breath while the sleek black torpedo materialized on the pad. "All right, everything's set." Tom said as he walked into the cockpit. "Good luck, Ahni."

As he turned and left; Neelix, Lt. Commander Rollins, and two other men walked onto the ship. One of the men was tall, muscular, very handsome, and had long black shoulder length hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She knew that his name was Roman Reigns, because he had bumped into her when she had first arrived on Voyager and he had introduced himself with a deep voice. The other man was a hair shorter than Roman and had a look in his eyes that was a mix of being a daredevil and a touch of insanity. She had in mind that his name was Dean Ambrose but she wasn't sure. If she read the reports right, these two men were a part of Commander Rollins special security team. The Shield.

"Commander." Jetal squeaked out. "What are you doing here?"

"That bomb is the second part of the plan." Rollins replied as he hefted his phaser rifle a little higher. It was then that she noticed that all of them, except for Neelix were carrying weapons. "We're the first part. Now let's get a move on."

As the Aeroshuttle departed from the ship, Jetal cut the engines as they entered Ocampa space and allowed the ship to coast. It was then that Neelix said, the Kazon didn't detect their ship, because their power was so low. Entering transporter range Ahni beamed the four men over to the huge Kazon vessel. As they dematerialized off of the ship, she noticed a slight variance in one of their signatures and she saw that one of them must have been beamed to another part of the enemy ship. Cursing herself for not running a diagnostic on the ships systems, she prayed that whoever was sent to an unknown part of that ship would be all right.

Predator

As Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose rematerialized on the Kazon warship Predator they looked around at the crudely made vessel and scoffed.

"Sir, where's Neelix?" Reigns asked, noticing that the Talaxian wasn't with them.

"Damn." Rollins muttered as he let out a sigh. "He must have rematerialized in another part of the ship."

"Should we go looking for him?" Ambrose asked.

"No." Rollins replied with a raised eyebrow as he took out his tricorder. "At least not until we've finished our mission. He gave us enough information to figure out where the engine room is anyway. Once we do what we need to do, we'll search for him."

"But what if we don't find him, sir?" Reigns asked quietly, as he looked around to make sure that no one was coming down the corridors.

"Then we'll have to leave him behind." Rollins replied as he looked at his tricorder and started down a corridor. "This way."

* * *

><p>Neelix had been on the receiving end of Kazon beatings before, but not like this. He'd confessed to everything they accused him of as soon as the words came out of their mouths (including plotting to overthrow the First Maje, collaborating with a Federation invasion, plotting to sell Kazon children to Vidiian organ farmers, theft, murder, treason, fraud, and an exhaustive litany of sexual perversions), but they were still keeping it up, and he was coming around to the idea that they weren't going to stop until he was dead. Which, unfortunately for Neelix, whose Talaxian bones broke reluctantly and blood ran slowly, would probably be a while.<p>

The lead "interrogator" signaled for the others to stop. Neelix lay in a puddle of blood and piss on a metal floor. "What's the matter?" Neelix asked. "Did your arms get tired?"

The lead interrogator, an especially nasty Deputy Maje named Arzak, laughed. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, junkman. You're trying to goad me into shooting you and putting you out of your misery. Well, you've been so cooperative, I suppose I can spare you this one small mercy."

And before Neelix had a chance to object or change his mind, Arzak withdrew his pistol from its holster, aimed, and fired two rounds...into Neelix's left shoulder.

It was like a bomb went off in his left arm. Neelix screamed curses in Kazon and Talaxian and three other languages. The Kazons just laughed.

After a while, shock started setting in and the pain faded enough that Neelix stopped screaming. Arzak took the opportunity to ask him more questions, especially about how he got on the ship, but before he could say one word the room plunged into darkness and then lit up with red emergency lights.

Arzak stumbled to an intercom. "Bridge, this is Arzak! What's happening?"

**We're being attacked by a boarding party sir!** a voice yelled through the intercom. **We've lost main power and we're dead in space!**

"Find whoever did this and kill them all." he shouted back at the officer, before letting go of the button. "Well," said Arzak as he turned around to look at the bloody mess that was Neelix. "I suppose that whoever is on this ship is looking for you." He took his gun back out of its holster. "I suppose that before they get here that I can put you out of your misery-"

Arzak's words were cut off by a collision, a flying tackle from Reigns. Arzak had a moment to be surprised just before his head struck a protruding steel reinforcing rib that turned his brains into pudding. He was dead before he hit the deck.

Going into a roll, Reigns went behind a barrel and brought up his weapon. Firing a few shots, he made the other Kazons in the room duck and dodge behind some crates as they opened fire.

Neelix lay on the blood-slicked interrogation room floor, using Arzak's body for cover. A shadow moved across the hatch and he fired at it. Kazon security thugs fired back, sending bullets ricocheting around the room. One struck Arzak's cooling corpse with a wet thump. A second hit one of the other interrogators, lying wounded and moaning where Neelix had shot him. He screamed; Neelix flinched.

"Surrender now, Neelix, and I promise you'll get a fast, clean execution!" shouted the chief thug. "Otherwise we're going to roast you to death with fire grenades in there."

"There are still two live Kazons in here with me!" Neelix shouted back. "You'll kill them too!"

"Then they'll have you for a slave in paradise! Now surrender or burn!"

Neelix checked the ammunition indicator on the pistol, and saw he had two rounds left—one to take one last shot at the Kazons outside the door, and one to finish the job on himself. He took aim at the crack in the hatchway. Giving Reigns a glance as he fought for his life, he was just about to pull the trigger until he saw a flash of movement behind the Kazons.

Before he knew what was going on, Neelix heard the sound of bodies falling to the deck. As his eyes focused he saw that it was Commander Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. They had weapons drawn as Rollins started shouting at Neelix .

"Lower your weapon! It's us Neelix."

Neelix gladly did, tucking the gun into his belt and struggling to his feet. Ambrose quickly secured the room, as Rollins started to inspect the fallen Kazon just outside.

"They're all dead." Rollins said. "We got to get to the beam out coordinates before reinforcements show up."

The others nodded agreement as Reigns started scanning Neelix with his tricorder. "It's about time you guys showed up."

"Hey we were busy." Ambrose replied as he hunched his shoulders.

"What is that thing?" Neelix asked as he heard the strange whirl from the device.

"It's called a tricorder." Reigns explained. "It's a handheld scanner; very useful."

"Can it see that I've been shot?"

Reigns nodded. "We'll get you to Voyager's sickbay and let the Doc patch you up. How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts, but I don't think I'm getting any worse."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

"Wait we can't leave yet." said Neelix. "The Kazon have slaves on this ship. We have to rescue them."

"We didn't come here for that Neelix." Rollins replied. "Our mission is complete and we have to get out of here."

"I thought you Starfleet were all about honor and protecting life?" Neelix asked. "The room those poor people are in is on our way to the beam out coordinates anyway."

Letting out a sigh, Rollins stared at Neelix, he was caught. "We'll have to grab them and haul ass to the beam out point."

"I owe the fucking Kazons something," said Neelix as they looked at him. "Come on. I was a corporal in the Talaxian army. I know how to use a gun. Please, I can still help you fight."

The Shield glanced at each other. On some hidden signal from Rollins, Ambrose tossed Neelix one of their hand phasers.

"How does this work?" Neelix asked.

"Just point it and shoot. The beam will last until you let up on the trigger. Try not to shoot yourself in the foot-you'll be dead before you even feel it. Got it?" Rollins asked

"I hope so." said Neelix.

"Good enough." Rollins said seriously. "All right, form up! I'm on point; Neelix, you're behind me. Reigns cover our backs. I want to be back on the Aeroshuttle in three minutes."

The Shield formed up. Rollins scanned the hallway with his tricorder, and, satisfied there was nobody waiting for him, lunged out. Neelix scrambled after him, followed by the rest of the Shield. They rushed down the dark, smoky passageway, Neelix stumbling over obstacles the team could see and avoid with their low-vision goggles. A luckless Kazon stumbled out of a hatchway in front of them and was blasted by Rollins before Neelix could even level his ray gun.

Neelix suddenly heard more ray gun fire behind him. He looked back and saw Reigns firing up the passageway at some unseen target. An alarm klaxon sounded. **"Intruder alert! Security to main passageway aft! Engineering prepare to scuttle the ship!"**

"Shit," said Rollins. "Let's move!"

They rushed up to the hatch to where Neelix believed the prisoners were being held, gunning down two crewmen emerging with weapons drawn.

"The cages are nearby." said Neelix. "We don't have much time."

Rollins nodded, raised his gun, and fired blindly through the rooms hatch, forcing the Kazons inside to take cover. Then he dove through.

Neelix lunged through the hatch after him. There were emergency lights on, and in the murk, he saw one of the guards on the ship, already looking sick and pallid from being shot in the stomach, unlocking a control panel. Neelix aimed center of mass and dropped him in one shot.

Gunfire echoed in the engine room and Neelix crumpled in agony.

As the Shield fired on the Kazons who'd shot Neelix, Ambrose spotted a huge cage and blasted the lock off of it and watched as five women, of different races stumbled out of it.

Rollins knelt beside Neelix. "He's hurt bad! Gather those women together and let's get the fuck out of here."

As Reigns gathered up the women, one of them ran past him and knelt down next to the fallen alien man. "Neelix!" she shouted as she cupped his head into her hands.

"Starfleet?" B'Elanna asked as she looked around and took in their uniforms. "How the hell did you get out here?"

"How do you know about... are you with the Maquis?" Ambrose asked, noticing that she was Klingon.

"We'll sort this shit out later." Rollins spoke up as he took a look around. "He's bleeding out and we need to move forward for beam out. If you ladies care about your lives you'll come with us. Ambrose grab Neelix. Reigns help me clear the way."

"No problem," Reigns replied with a smile. He took position behind cover with a line of sight through the slave girl room hatch, firing blasts at onrushing Kazon crewmen. He kept firing even when they turned to run away. Leaning down, B'Elanna grabbed Neelix's disguarded phaser. There was no way she was leaving without killing some Kazons after what they had done to her.

"Go, go, go!" Rollins commanded of everyone as he tapped at his combadge. "Aeroshuttle, we're advancing out of the engine room and we're bringing five more people with us. I'll take point. Reigns, cover our backs."

The team advanced up the blacked-out passageway. Phaser blasts provided the only light. They heard more blasts and shouting coming from further forward, where B'Elanna started shooting. Reigns was the last out of the engine room, and closed the hatch behind them.

**"That's it, you're clear,"** said Jetal. **"Hold still for beam out."**

Rollins turned to check on Neelix just as a Kazon warrior appeared from around a bend. Rollins and Reigns fired at the same time. Reigns hit the Kazon and vaporized him, but not before the Kazon hit Rollins in the chest, taking him off of his feet.

**"Energizing!"**

A/N Allen I can't tell you how this story will turn out as it will spoil things. All I can say is that I already covered the whole Seven meets her mom and dad thing in my other story Annika and the Emissary. Also don't worry the Kazons are going to get theirs for what they've done.


	6. Chapter 5 The Kazon pt 4

Chapter 5

The Kazon pt. 4

Aeroshuttle

The Shield re-materialized with five women and two bodies. "Medical emergency!" shouted Ambrose. Ensign Jetal, who was just arriving in the transporter room, staggered at the sight of all the blood on the transporter pad.

"There's no way we can help them here," she said as she slapped the intercom panel. "Computer, set a course to get back to Voyager! Now! Also send out a distress signal and let them know we have casualties."

"Ah... Ahni, we have to complete... complete our mission." Rollins said feverishly.

"Damn." Jetal cursed as she ran back towards the cockpit.

"Come on, help me." Reigns said to Ambrose. They cleared Neelix and Rollins off the pad and stretched them out flat. Bandages, hyposprays, and dermal regenerators accumulated on a neat pile to their right, as B'Elanna snatched up a tricorder and scanned them both.

"Please... please tell me that Neelix is going to be okay." Kes begged as she stood over the half Klingon woman.

"Ladies take a step back and give her some space." Reigns said lowly as the slave girls did as he asked. "Are they going to make it?"

"They both have severe internal injuries," B'Elanna replied as she looked up from the tricorder. "We can slow the bleeding, but they're going to die if we can't get them to a real sickbay. Come on." As she said that she couldn't help but look down at the blood-soaked floor.

At that moment B'Elanna thought about Chakotay and her other brothers and sisters of the Maquis as she stared down at Neelix and Rollins. Before and sometimes even during Jal Jabin raping and beating her, he told her that he had executed the Maquis and that they all died in agony and despair. A part of her hoped and even believed that he was lying but the sad realization was, Chakotay never came for her.

That is even if he thought that she was even alive since she was transported to the planet. She still wanted to kick herself for crawling to the surface and getting caught by the Kazon. The sick perverted things that they had done to her... she'd kill any fucking Kazon that she ever came across from this point on. At least now she was away from them and... into the hands of Starfleet. She figured that that strange array had beamed them to the Delta Quadrant like it had the Val Jean and as she was about to ask them what ship they were on, she heard the whine of the transporter and briefly saw a torpedo on the pad before it vanished.

* * *

><p>Deep in the bowels of Predator, near a critical three-way power junction, a Kazon crewman named Mierna was startled by a high-pitched whine. He turned around to see a black, lozenge-shaped device shimmer into existence. He reached out to touch it.<p>

The world exploded.

* * *

><p>The explosion ripped through the port side of Predator, dissolving steel and flesh in a blaze of gamma rays, creating a blast wave of metal vapor that piled up against armored bulkheads and broke them down one after another after another. Spikes of death and fire radiated along corridors, ladder ways, and conduits, killing and destroying in every part of the ship. One such spike reached the port warp nacelle, turning twenty-five thousand tons of irreplaceable warp coil into scrap. Another cracked open the deeply armored central core, just a few compartments away from where Jal Jabin was in the process of being hurled through the air by the shock-waves reverberating back and forth through Predator. Out on the ship's surface, armor blew away and the hull cracked open, spilling living Kazon into the vacuum.<p>

Ensign Ahni Jetal stared, gape-mouthed, at the slowly spinning wreck Predator had become. And yet, there still was a ship to stare at. Her engines, unbelievably, were still working. A few shield panels still flickered. There was power to her guns. With steel determination Ahni wasted no time, blasting the wounded Kazon battleship with phasers.

"I'm going to fire our torpedoes!" Ambrose yelled to her. Strange she didn't even hear him come into the room. Ignoring that fact she watched as he hurled their last empty casing at Predator, where it smashed into a tangle of twisted wreckage.

Suddenly, Predator heaved, like a wounded animal trying to shake off a pair of grasping predators. Subspace twisted, and suddenly Predator was gone, warping away at barely more than the speed of light,

Their mission complete the Aeroshuttle raced back to Voyager as fast as her engines would carry her.

Voyager

Bridge

Harry shook his head as Ahni's face disappeared off of the main-viewer. She had just reported that the mission was a success but he wondered at what cost. Shaking a bit, he tapped at his com-badge.

"Sickbay, we have two gunshot victims with severe internal bleeding on the way. Four minutes and counting."

**'Sickbay is ready, captain.'** said the Doctor, his voice as cool and monotone as ever.

"Transporter room, be ready to transport two people directly to sickbay."

**'Aye sir.'** the Transporter Chief replied.

"Tom go down to the shuttlebay and greet Ahni and the others." Harry ordered.

"Are you going to be all right?" Tom asked in concern as he and Harry shared a look.

"I don't have a choice but to be." Harry replied as Commander Paris gave him a nod of understanding, before walking off the bridge. "Lyssa are the Kazon in pursuit of the Aeroshuttle?"

"No sir." Lt. Campbell replied as she worked her console. "They're in the clear."

"Good, we've bought ourselves some time." Harry said more to himself then to her. "Helmsman set a course to the Caretakers array."

Main Shuttlebay

As the Aeroshuttle docked with Voyager, Tom gave Ensign Jetal a friendly smile as she, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns stepped off of the ship. Neelix and Rollins had already been transported to Sickbay.

Giving Reigns and Ambrose orders to find the ex slave girls quarters and to send Kes to Sickbay to see Neelix, Tom was about to turn around and leave with Ahni until he saw the last girl walk off the small ship.

"Ba... B'Elanna?" he asked in surprise, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Tom?" she asked back, shocked to see him. Yeah this trip was definitely a weird one.

* * *

><p>Kazon battleship Predator<p>

Predator limped at low warp back to base, one system over from Ocampa. Maje Jabin cursed the Caretaker for not allowing the Kazon to maintain a base in its system, cursed the aliens for what they'd done to his ship, cursed himself for falling into their trap, and cursed his ship for just barely surviving, instead of simply exploding and saving him from the disgrace that awaited him once word of this disaster spread.

"Kinell!" said Jabin. "Your report!"

Jabin's first mate scurried up to the dais where Jabin kept his command seat. Kinell was carrying a tablet with a video queued up. "We found the security footage," said Kinell.

"Let me see," said Jabin, taking the tablet. He started the video. On the screen, a Kazon warrior-the hapless Mierna-was guarding a primary power junction. Suddenly, behind him, there was a shimmering, sparkling light, and a black lozenge-shaped, coffin-sized container appeared out of thin air. Mierna reached out for it, there was a flash, and the camera went dead.

"So they do have some kind of teleporting weapon," said Jabin. "How did it get through our shields?"

"We don't know yet, Maje," said Kinell.

"Well, find out!" said Jabin.

"Yes, Maje," said Kinell. He scurried away with the tablet.

Jabin sat back in his seat and thought about many things-about how to salvage what he could from Predator, about all the letters he had to write to newly-made widows and orphans, about how he was going to explain and atone for this disaster, about how he might save his honor and career. But most of all, he thought of that sleek white alien ship, latest in a string of increasingly capable and dangerous ships the Caretaker had dropped in his lap, about teleporter bombs and shields and how he was going to punish those aliens if it was the last thing he ever did.

He thought about the Caretaker, too. "That fucking machine," he said, "is becoming more trouble than it's worth." After a while, he took out his own tablet and started composing his thoughts. Even though the alien that was over the ship was dead, he still didn't want to figure out how the teleportation technology worked that brought all of those ships to his part of space. If anything he just wanted to take whatever technology they could from the array and blow it up. But that wasn't a decision for him to make. It was for someone much higher in rank then him to decide on what to do.


	7. Chapter 6 The Kazon pt 5

Chapter 6

The Kazon pt. 5

Kazon-Ogla Staging Area

3.4 Light Years from Ocampa Space

Predator limped into it's dry dock like a dying old man, which was exactly what he was. Maje Jal Jabin's personal belongings had been evaporated by gamma ray flux, so when he stepped through the gangway, the only possessions he had left were his uniform and his gun. He didn't know how long until they took the former and shot him with the latter.

Maybe not long at all. A man was waiting for him at the end of the gangway, wearing the uniform of the First Maje's office. "Maje Jabin," he said. "Follow me."

Jabin may have been a dead man walking, but as a Maje he still had rights. "Who demands it?" he said.

The man from the First Maje's office drew up straight. He was half a head shorter than Jabin and, judging by his skull ridges, of an inferior caste, not even important enough to be allowed to serve on a starship. But he wore the herald of the First Maje on his breast, and that gave him the right to ignore all proper social conventions. If Jabin laid a hand on him, Jabin would lose it, and the officious peasant knew it. "The First Maje demands it, oh great Maje Jabin. He wishes to inquire into the condition of his ship."

Jabin briefly considered shooting the peasant and then himself, just for the satisfaction of taking somebody with him while avoiding a drawn-out execution.

"If the First Maje wants me, then I am at his service," said Jabin.

He was led through a maze of cramped passageways towards the center of the station. The design of the place was awkward at best, with hundreds of additions over the years and no logical sense to the layout. Along the way, they passed a window looking down into an internal hangar, where the wrecks of some of Jabin's earlier prizes floated. I made a lot of money for the Ogla sect, thought Jabin. Maybe that will buy me another chance. It was the best hope he had.

They walked deeper into the station, finally found a horivator bank (Jabin suppressed a snarl as the peasant got into the warrior caste car with him). It took them to the station's multi-level central promenade. Like the promenade of every Kazon station, it was crowded with civilians, the camp followers of the warrior caste who ruled Kazon society. The decks reserved for warriors were less crowded (and cleaner and better maintained), but there were still many, many Kazons. The First Maje brought his personal fleet, thought Jabin. Word of the disaster that had befallen Predator had spread fast.

The First Maje's offices were at the very top deck, above even the station's control room and Jabin's own station quarters (rarely used). He had an office at every station in Kazon territory, attended usually by mid-ranking functionaries, ensuring the First Maje got his cut of every crown that passed through every Ogla's hand. Now they were full with the First Maje's entourage. The peasant passed him off to a warrior-adjutant. "Come with me," he said.

The First Maje's personal office was a throne room. First Maje Jal Razik himself, bald and immensely fat, clothed in fine fabrics of deep maroon and orange-gold, sat on a throne of ornate hand-made ironwork covered in gold leaf. The walls and ceiling were marble trimmed with gold. Courtiers and courtesans lounged around the room, eating, drinking, and smoking, pointing at Jabin and quietly snickering. Every last one of them appeared to be addled on drugs. Jabin approached the throne and prostrated himself before it.

With a grunt, the First Maje managed to lever himself out of his throne. He wheezed his way off the dais and plodded down the carpeted aisle to Jabin. Jabin dared not move.

"Rise, Maje Jabin," said Razik. Jabin did, taking care to avert his eyes from looking directly at Razik's face.

"Look at me," said Razik. He reached forward with one fat hand and turned Jabin's head until the two men were looking eye-to-eye. Razik and Jabin stared at each other.

"Rejoice!" said Razik. "Our brother Jal Jabin lives!" And then he grabbed Jabin and embraced him in a crushing bear hug. The courtiers-looking confused and disappointed, but knowing what was good for them-stood and dutifully applauded. Jabin felt his legs go limp with relief. The First Maje had chosen to spare him.

"Walk with me, brother," said Razik.

"I obey," said Jabin. They walked together-Razik made a show of leaning on Jabin for support-to Razik's private office off the throne room. Like the throne room, it was all cold marble and gold leaf, with a massive desk made of the wood of a tree from a planet the Kazon-Ogla had bombarded with asteroids until the crust melted. Razik and Jabin walked through this room, through a short passageway, to a smaller, more comfortable office, decorated with traditional Ogla art and photographs of the First Maje's grandchildren. The First Maje offered Jabin a seat in a comfortable chair, then collapsed into his own chair-one which had much more padding than the iron throne.

"Do you remember, my friend, when we were both boys?" said Razik. "And our grandfathers led the Kazon-Ogla to glory without needing any of this rubbish around them?"

"I do, First Maje."

"I worry that we've lost our way," said Razik. He shook his head, sending his chins wobbling in three different directions. "But that is not why I am here. I am truly glad you're alive, my friend."

"I'm not," said Jabin. "I lost nine hundred warriors. For my incompetence, I should be serving them in Paradise for ten thousand years."

"I have seen the video and read the report, Maje Jabin. It was not your fault. I have forgiven you; so have your fallen warriors, and so should you."

"Forgive me, my lord," said Jabin. "I am not sure I'm ready."

"This is why I have always liked you," said Razik. "You take responsibility. Too many so-called Majes seek only glory; never blame." He leaned back in his seat. "So," he said. "If you will not forgive yourself, what is your plan for redemption?"

"It's time we destroyed the Caretaker," said Jabin.

First Maje Razik leaned forward, resting his fat face in his upturned hands. "You've gained more than any of us from the Caretaker," said Razik. This was a lie. Between his share of the loot, the lease he was charging Jabin for a battleship and a starbase, and all the taxes he was collecting on the supplies needed to run the operation, Razik was making more from the Caretaker than anyone. But if the Caretaker were destroyed, Razik had his fingers in many other pies, while Jabin would be out of a job.

"I know," said Jabin. "But Predator has been nearly destroyed by aliens twice now. What if it brings us more of these 'Federations' and their teleporting bombs? What if it brings us more of those lunatic 'Jem'Hadar'? What if it brings us something worse?"

"We are powerful, Jal Jabin," said Razik. "What we lack in technology, we make up for in numbers. The Vidiians are far more advanced than us, and we've held them at bay for decades. Talaxians, Hakkonians, the bloody Trabe; we have triumphed over and over against superior technology and desperate odds. The Caretaker pulls in ships one at a time. What could one ship do?"

"It's not one ship," said Jabin. "There was another ship that we couldn't pick up on our sensors. It slipped away from me."

"I know," said Razik. "It's happened before."

"Yes, but most of the time, they run away as fast as they can. This ship stayed, and now it's working with Voyager. Don't you see? This could be the beginning of an invasion."

"Or they could be allies of desperation," said Razik. "Jal Jabin, are you certain your concern is genuine, or do you just want revenge on the Caretaker for what happened to your crew?"

Jabin honestly didn't know. "Maybe both," he admitted.

"First things first," said Razik. "Our priority now is those 'Federations'. If this is the beginning of an invasion, we need to smash it now."

"I have dispatched scouts to Ocampa," said Jabin.

Razik shook his head. "Skulking in the Oort Cloud with passive sensors won't do," he said. "We need better intelligence. Would you agree that it's likely Voyager and this other ship have subspace sensors on board?"

"Given how the other ship was able to drop exactly on top of us only a few minutes after we arrived at Ocampa, that seems certain," said Jabin, who'd been thinking over and over about the battle.

"Then we need our own real-time FTL intelligence. We will move a Spyglance into Ocampa's Kuiper belt, along with a fleet to protect it."

"They'll see us," said Jabin.

"They have two ships. They are powerful, but they're not gods."

"Those teleporting bombs..." said Jabin.

Razik grinned. "My engineers have analyzed your data," he said. "It was a trick, Maje Jabin. Just a simple trick. And simple to defeat. The next time we fight, it will be on our terms."

Sickbay

As Harry entered Sickbay he saw the Doctor finishing some scans on Neelix before he put his medical tray up.

"How are you feeling today, Doctor Zimmerman?" Harry asked trying to be friendly. He had decided to call him that, after his creator because it was driving him crazy to just keep calling him the Doctor all of the time. To his surprise the hologram didn't object.

"As well as a hologram can be." Zimmerman replied snarkly, with a roll of his holographic eyes.

Here we go again. Who the hell programmed this guy... oh yeah. "How are Neelix and Commander Rollins?"

"With my expert care they're doing just fine." Zimmerman replied as he met Harry's gaze. "I've given them a powerful sedative so they'll be sleeping for the next few hours."

"Good, I'm glad they made it." Harry replied as his head drooped down tiredly.

"Don't get too relaxed Captain, I have some complaints." Zimmerman said as Harry opened his eyes back up and looked at him. "If I'm to be the ships new CMO then I demand that I have a nurse. You can't imagine how frustrating it is to do all of this work around here, alone."

"I'll see what I can do for you Doc..." Harry was cut off as a blond whirlwind latched itself on to him. Looking down he saw that it was the pretty blond alien that was rescued from the Kazon ship, Predator.

"Thank you for saving Neelix." the woman muffled into his chest. Suddenly the Doctor cleared his holographic throat.

"You're welcome but you really should be thanking Doctor Zimmerman." Harry replied as Kes did just that. "Once this is all sorted out with the Kazon, you, Neelix and the other girls will be free to go back to your respective planets."

"That... that won't be possible." Kes said as she turned away from him. "Except for a small colony underneath Ocampa, my planet is just a wasteland."

"You're from Ocampa?" Harry asked with wide eyes, at her nod. "Come with me. After I make sure the other girls are okay and let them know that we'll figure out a way to send them home, we have a few things to talk about." As he said that she turned around and looked to her fallen boyfriend who lay asleep on a bio-bed. "Don't worry about Neelix. He's in good hands with the Doctor."

Putting a hand on the young woman's shoulder he led her out of Sickbay and towards the Ready room. It was time to get a few answers.

B'Elanna's Quarters

"Starfleet made you a Commander?" B'Elanna asked Tom with wide eyes. It started off as a smile, that turned into a snicker, that transformed into full blown laughter.

"Hey it isn't that funny." Tom replied with a roll of his eyes as he tugged at his uniform. "And that's not how it happened." he said as he told her how they got to the Delta Quadrant. A few minutes before, she had done the same and told him how the Maquis ended up in the Delta Quadrant and how she feared that they were dead.

"So you were going to betray us?" B'Elanna asked, her Klingon and latino blood starting to boil.

"Not exactly." Tom replied as he folded his arms over his chest. "The Federation and the Cardassians were going to find out about the Rat's nest with or without my help sooner or later. I might have sped that time up a little but believe me they would have found every hiding place in the Badlands."

"I guess you're right." B'Elanna said as she let out a sigh.

"Hey are you okay?" Tom asked as he looked deep into her eyes.

Even though he had only known her for a few months while he was a part of the Maquis, she always had a spark in her eyes. He wanted to believe that maybe she still felt a little sickly from the disease she had from the Caretakers array that the Doctor had cured her of, but somehow he didn't think that was what was wrong. As he reached up to touch her face, she violently slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted to the top of her lungs. "Don't you ever fucking touch me."

"Whoa, I was just..."

"You stupid men." B'Elanna muttered as she turned away from him. "All of you are just the same. You think that you can just come in here and touch me and do whatever you want to my body."

"B'Elanna..."

"Get out!" she snapped as she turned her angry eyes to him. "Get the fuck out of my room!"

What the hell did the Kazon do to you? Turning to leave, Tom turned back to look at her as the door opened in front of him. "B'Elanna, I'll always be here if you need me." As he said that the sad realization dawned on him that in the next few hours, if Voyager succeeded in getting back home, that his friend would be arrested. Lowering his head in sadness, he walked out of her room.

Chest rising and falling rapidly, B'Elanna tried to calm herself down. As her breath came to her more evenly, she did something she hadn't done since the day her father walked out on her and her mom. She fell to her knees and openly wept.

Kazon Drydock

Maje Jabin sat in the Captain's chair of his newest warship, Wrath. His scouts had just returned from the Ocampa system and they had informed him that Voyager was on it's way towards the Caretaker array.

"Soon, you stupid aliens." Jabin spoke in the darkness of his bridge. "Soon, I will crush all of your bones into dust and take your ship and it's secrets."


	8. Chapter 7 The Kazon pt 6

Chapter 7

The Kazon pt. 6

Voyager

Ready Room

Kes wasn't so used to being in a place so plush and bright, so she fidgeted a little as she sat down. Mistaking her unease for nervousness, Harry gave her a smile hoping that she would relax a little.

"Kes, please tell me a little about your world?" Harry started calmly.

"Well, I'm... I'm assuming you're talking about how it came to be so devastated?" she asked as he gave her a nod. "Ever since I was born, my parents would tell me stories of long ago when our planet wasn't like this. They told me that it used to be green and blue with water as far as the eyes could see."

"What happened?"

"I... my people don't know." she answered honestly. "To what little text we have left, the Caretaker orbited our planet soon after this disaster happened."

Maybe he was the cause of it. "I understand. But tell me something else. Did your people worship the Caretaker?"

"For a time we did on the surface but it got so hot that we had to move underground."

"It must suck for you to live over twenty years underground." Harry said glumly, making the elfish woman frown at him.

"Twenty years?" she asked. "I wish it were possible for me to live that long. I'm only two years old."

"What!?" Harry asked with wide eyes as she started to tell him about her people and how long they lived.

"A couple of months ago, I met Neelix when he was trading with the Kazon. I was attracted to him the moment I laid eyes on him and I would sneak out of the Kazon camp late at night and use one of their transponders to talk to him. He wanted to take me from the Kazon but he didn't have enough money to buy me and he was afraid to try to kidnap me and take me away from the Kazon, in fear that they would kill us both."

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry all of that happened to you."

**'Bridge to Kim.'** Campbell's voice said over the com-line.

"Kim here." Harry replied as he tapped at his com-badge.

**'We've arrived at the Caretakers array, sir.'** She reported.

"I'm on my way." he replied as the com-line was cut. Then he thought about something else. Picking up a PADD, he checked the ship's org chart again. Among the departments decapitated was Science-the computer had removed several names as department heads since those officers were killed -by-default. With a sigh, he checked the next name down and tapped his com-badge. "Kim to Ensign Wildman."

**'Wildman here.'**

"Have you ever run a science department before?" said Harry.

**'No, sir.'**

"You're about to," he informed her. "We have to get our heads together. Gather up everyone in the department you can find and start getting the equipment that you might need to analyze the Caretakers array. If the sensors don't work, notify Lt. Ballard and get a repair team on it. First priority is that space station, since I need you to be on an away mission over there. Do a scan of the planet, too, while you're at it. Maybe there's something we missed the first time."

**'Yes sir.'** Ensign Wildman replied, nervously. Harry could relate to how she felt, but she was needed.

"Kim out." Harry said as he looked into Kes' eyes. He had almost forgotten that the woman was still in the room. As he stood to his feet, she cleared her throat.

"I made a friend while, I was on that Kazon ship." Kes said as she stood to her own feet. "I wanted to know if, I could check on her?"

"Yes, of course." he told her. "But first, I wanted you to join me on the Bridge."

As they walked out of the room, Harry saw Roman Reigns manning Tactical and Ahni at Helm. Giving the big man a nod, he sat down at the Captain's chair before telling Kes to sit down next to him.

"Miss Campbell, would you put Ocampa onscreen?" Harry asked. Doing as she was instructed, for the first time in her young life, Kes saw her home planet. She couldn't describe how the feeling felt of her seeing the planet other then it was more beautiful then she thought it would be.

"Sir, Ensign Wildman is reporting that she is ready to go over to the Caretakers array." Lt. Campbell reported, making Kes jump.

"You're going to see the Caretaker?" the Ocampan woman asked.

"Yeah." Harry whispered as he looked back at his OPS officer. "Tell her to stand by. Mr. Reigns until Commander Rollins is fit for duty, I'd like for you to take over and be in charge of the away mission to the array."

"Yes sir." Reigns replied with a nod. "I also think that you should know that even though our sensors are limited, they're still picking up over thirty Kazon life-signs on board the array. What are your orders on... how to deal with them?"

"Do whatever you deem necessary Roman." Harry replied as he took a deep breath. "We have to try to use the array to get back home so take as many people as we can spare to help you. On your way to reporting to Ensign Wildman, I'd also like for you to drop Kes off at Miss Torres' quarters."

"Aye sir." Roman replied, as Kes stood up and walked into the turbolift with him.

B'Elanna's Quarters

It had been sometime since B'Elanna had a soft bed to sleep on but as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep. As the thoughts of pain, murder, and the Kazons pushed away from her and gave birth to a serene sleep. Sleep that was cut short as her door chime sounded.

With a literal growl, she flung her pillow on the other side of the room before sliding off of the bed and standing to her feet. Stomping to the door, she opened it and immediately started shouting, not knowing who it was.

"What!?" B'Elanna asked angrily.

"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." Kes replied in shock.

"Kes?" B'Elanna asked as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

Seeing that her friend was probably just asleep and wasn't really angry with her, Kes pulled her into a hug. Eyes going wide, like a deer caught in headlights, B'Elanna let out a breath. There was no way she could stay mad at Kes, especially after the other woman tried to protect her on Ocampa and on that Kazon ship. Kes had taken a beating for her on that planet and B'Elanna would never forget that. She just wasn't used to someone being so gentle with her. Damn woman, B'Elanna thought loosely to herself as she returned the hug.

"Kes what are you doing here?" B'Elanna asked as they broke their embrace.

"I just came to check on you." Kes answered, still on the other side of the door. Stepping to the side, B'Elanna let her into her room.

"How's Neelix?" B'Elanna asked as both of them sat on the foot of her bed.

"The Captain assured me that he was going to be fine." Kes replied as she started to play with her hands.

"Hey, relax." B'Elanna said as she made her stop fidgeting. "If there is one good thing, I can say about Starfleet they have good doctors."

Calming down some, Kes relaxed some and let out a breath. "I'm going to talk to Neelix when this is all over. My people don't live long so I want to explore this galaxy before, I'm gone. What about you? What are you planning on doing when this is all over?"

If what B'Elanna heard was true and they were indeed going back to the Caretakers array, she knew exactly what her future held. "I plan on going to jail."

* * *

><p>As the away team beamed over to the Array, Roman wasted no time to marvel at the alien technology as he snapped up his phaser rifle and scanned the darkened area with it's flashlight beam.<p>

"Make sure to stay behind me, Sammie." Roman whispered to the new head of the science division. The both of them knew each other from the Academy and he was very fond of her as if she were a sister. "Dean make sure to have our backs."

"Yeah." Dean Ambrose replied as he got behind the other blue shirts and started to scan the area behind them. "I'm picking up movement behind us."

Maybe the Kazon know that we're here. "Stand ready." Roman commanded as he looked to the other security team members as they stood between where they assumed trouble was coming from and the blue shirts. With an angry expression on his face, Roman switched his rifle to the kill setting. It was time to get a little dangerous.

Voyager

Harry was shaken awake in his chair by Lt. Lyssa Campbell.

"We're getting a report from security officer Roman Reigns, sir." she informed him.

A feeble squirt of adrenaline hit Kim's brain. It woke him up, but it wouldn't last long. "On screen." he said.

"We're getting audio only, sir." Lyssa told him as she patched it though.

**'Are you reading me Captain?'** Roman's voice sounded over the com-line.

"I'm reading you loud and clear." Harry replied with a smile. "What do you have to report?"

**'We've... handled the Kazon that were on board the Array sir.'** Roman reported. Harry didn't like the way he said handled but what had to be done had to be done. **'Samantha is analyzing the Caretakers array and she believes she can have a report sent to you within the hour.'**

Thank God. In an hour we might be able to go home. "Good. Tell her if she needs any extra help that I can send Lt. Ballard over."

**'Aye sir.'**

"Sir, sensors are detecting several ships dropping out of warp and coming into the system." Ensign Jetal reported as Tom walked onto the Bridge. "All of them are Kazon."

"Put it onscreen." Harry commanded as Tom sat down next to him. Doing as she was instructed, Harry and the Bridge crew saw ships of different shapes and sizes on the main viewer. "Roman a Kazon fleet has just entered the system. We don't have time to beam you back over so you're in charge over there until further notice."

**'Aye sir.'** Roman replied as the com-line was cut.

Taking a look back at Tactical, Harry didn't see anybody standing there. God this ship was now severely understaffed. "Tom take Tactical."

With a nod of his head, Tom jumped to his feet and took his station.

Captain Kim looked around at his officers. He promised them that he would get them home and he'd be damned if the Kazon stood in his way of that.

"Captain, the Kazon say if we don't surrender, they're going to open fire." Lt. Campbell reported.

"Signal our surrender." Harry replied, making everyone on the Bridge look at him.

Outside, the Kazon boarding shuttles drifted in, a few hundred meters from Voyager's hull. The first group of them had started slowing to contact speed.

Deep in the heart of the small fleet, Maje Maholo smiled to himself. He was chosen as the advance army sent out to gauge this alien ships capabilities. But here they were already signaling over their surrender. Smile deepening, he didn't even notice how his boarding shuttles were blocking most of his best firing lines to Voyager.

On the bridge of Voyager, Harry called Lt. Ballard on the intercom. "Lyndsay, I'm going to use one of your crazy plans from when we were in the Academy together. If this doesn't work, we'll fight the boarding parties for as long as we can to buy you time. But this ship can't fall into the hands of these aliens. If Engineering falls, you blow the antimatter pods. Do you understand?"

Down in engineering, Lyndsay and Vorik looked at each other for a long moment. Then Lyndsay, her voice shaking, said "Yes, sir," and dialed up the controls for the antimatter containment fields. As her numb fingers dropped from the controls, she suddenly smiled as she thought about what he had said. The plan she had thought up when they were in Tactical training in the Academy was crazy, but it just might work.

Outside of the ship, nine Kazon scout ships, that were the size of a Starfleet runabout, shot hooks onto Voyager so they could board the ship. Working the controls, Harry sent a pulse of energy that ran along the hull of the ship. The force of the energy snapped off all of the boarding cables and caused five of the ships to run into one another, instantly destroying them.

After extending the shields, Tom sent out some phaser fire that destroyed the other four ships. After seeing what happened to his brothers, Maje Maholo moved his small fleet forward and started to fire on Voyager. He guessed that he had to test the alien vessel after all.

* * *

><p>Voyager shook hard as another volley of enemy fire hit the ship. As the next wave of ships passed by and fired on them, Harry almost fell out of his seat.<p>

"Return fire!" Harry shouted. "Damage report?" he asked as a hiss of steam shot down behind him.

"Those ships have caused severe damage on all decks, sir." Lt. Campbell reported. "Shields are down to forty five percent and the warp drive is offline. We can't take much more of this, sir."

Voyager main engine room

The clamor of the alarms in Engineering was deafening. Lieutenant Lyndsay Ballard stared at the master control board and tried to decide which crisis to tackle first. "Vorik, we're still losing pressure in the primary impulse cooling circuit; get the emergency injectors restarted before the starboard reactors melt! Beltran, find out where it's leaking. Damage control, we're venting atmosphere on deck nine through the HVAC system; seal those intakes on the double. Rodriguez! What's the story with main power?"

"Ma'am, the starboard plasma injector fused shut and the blow-down valves stuck closed; we came a cunt-hair from blowing the whole fucking core. The warp plasma vented into the EPS system; that saved the core, but we've got plasma blowouts all over the ship and two thirds of the electrical system is fried. I can get you auxiliary power off the impulse reactors, and that's if you're lucky."

"How are the antimatter pods holding?"

"They're solid, ma'am. About the only thing on this fucking boat that isn't broken right now."

B'Elanna's Quarters

"What the fuck is going on?" B'Elanna asked more to herself then she did to Kes as she tried to keep from being thrown to the floor. Looking out of her viewport, she saw a small brown ship fly by.

It didn't take long for her to figure out that the ship was a Kazon vessel. Her eyes going dark and her heart feeling with anger, she stomped out of her room, Kes calling her name.

* * *

><p>"We don't have to fight much longer." Tom replied as he shot out another volley of torpedoes and destroyed a scout ship. "That was the last of them."<p>

Thank God. "Lt. Campbell get me a damage..."

"No... no that wasn't the last of them." Lt. Campbell stuttered as she read her readouts. "There's more ships on the way and at current speed they will be here in five hours. That was just the calm before the storm."


	9. Chapter 8 The Kazon pt 7

A/N I decided to post two chapters today. Please enjoy them both.

Chapter 8

The Kazon pt. 7

Voyager

"Miss Campbell, can you identify the ship types?" Harry asked as the ships were placed onscreen.

"Fourteen are identical in configuration to Predator. The last one is substantially larger, and appears to be some kind of surveillance or electronic warfare ship."

"They're looking for us." Harry realized. "Kim to engineering: what's the status of our defensive systems?"

**'Not good.'** said Ballard. **'I can get you thirty percent shields and phasers. Photon torpedoes are ready.'**

"We could hold them at bay with photon torpedoes." Tom spoke up. "Three full-yield shots should be enough to disable one battleship."

"What's our load out?" Harry asked, trying to think.

Tom grimaced at the question. "Thirty, captain."

"What will phasers do to their armor at thirty three percent?"

"Ruin the paint," Tom deadpanned.

"And the engines don't work." said Harry. We can't fight, and we can't run. He looked up at the view-screen. Planet Hell, the ugly yellow ball, was floating serenely, silent and nearly abandoned, as it had been for many years.

"Engineering, this is Kim. How long could our shields hold up in the planet's atmosphere?"

**'What altitude?'**

"Zero, Miss Ballard."

Main Engineering

Has he gone crazy? thought Ballard. "Twelve hours, but that's not the biggest problem. The heat dissipation system is down, so we can't dump our waste heat into subspace, and the backup system won't be able to dump it into the environment. Even if the shields could block out every bit of heat from the air and ground-and they can't-we'll be roasting in half that time. And if the shields fail, even for an instant, we'll get crushed like a bug."

**'What about the structural integrity field?'** Harry asked over the com-line.

"The SIF could hold up against the pressure if the outer hull was intact, but it isn't," said Ballard. "And there's no internal bulkhead or force-field designed to withstand 90 atmospheres."

**'How fast can you get the warp drive online?'**

"Six hours, minimum," Ballard reported.

**'Then we have no choice. Prepare the ship for landing. Do whatever you have to do to reinforce the shields and ensure they stay up no matter what. You have five minutes.'**

"Five minutes!" Ballard shouted. "Captain, you have no idea-"

**'Five minutes, then we're taking this ship into the atmosphere whether you're ready or not! Kim out.'**

Rodriguez stared at Ballard. "What?" snapped Ballard.

"What are you going to do?" said Rodriguez.

"What do you think I'm going to do? Reroute all available power to the shield generators, and put every backup generator and battery we have on standby. Start shutting down every extraneous system; we need to save every joule of waste heat we can."

"Yes ma'am," said Rodriguez. Beat. "He's going to get us all killed." he said.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Lt. Ballard.

* * *

><p>"Captain, I'm detecting a subspace particle beam coming from a point source in the Kuiper belt," said Ensign Jetal, working at her controls. "It looks like some kind of crude subspace sensor."<p>

"That fifteenth ship." said Harry. "It has to be from there. We need to take it out."

"It's guarded by fourteen Kazon battleships," Tom told them. "And we can't reach it."

"We can't, but the Aeroshuttle can." Harry said as he stood to his feet. "Tom get a pilot, an engineer, and as many antimatter bottles as you can carry. Get down to the Aeroshuttle, start prepping it for launch and report back to the bridge. Miss Campbell, tell Roman what's going on and that we're leaving but we're coming back. Then put the ship in blue alert. We're landing in Hell."

* * *

><p>Voyager descended into Planet Hell's atmosphere. They were already through the sulfuric acid clouds and could see, through heat shimmers, the ruined surface.<p>

**'We only have ten more minutes of cruising before we have to either land or return to space.'** warned Vorik.

"Tom, are you ready?" Harry asked.

**'Yes sir. Aeroshuttle ready for launch in two minutes.'** Tom reported.

"Tom, does the shuttle have a name?" Harry suddenly asked. He'd heard sending a ship without a name into battle was bad luck. He'd never believed it, but now he needed all the luck he could get.

**'No sir.'**

Harry then thrummed his fingers on his armrest trying to come up with a name. "How does Janeway sound?"

**'I like it.'** Tom replied with a smile in his voice.

"We'll give her a proper christening when it gets back." Harry said as he stood up and, fighting the bucking of the ship as it pushed through the thick air, walked to Jetal's station.

"We need to find a landing spot now." he whispered.

"I've got one." Ahni replied. "Thirty kilometers north-northeast, there's an old submarine canyon. It's deep enough the Kazons would have to be almost directly overhead to see us, and it's less than a hundred kilometers from one of those towers. Hopefully our magnetic signature will be lost in the background."

"It's the best chance we've got." Harry realized. "Ahni, take us down."

**'Bridge, this is Janeway. Pre-launch sequence complete; we are ready for launch.'** Tom's voice said over the com-line. '**I'm handing over Helm control to Ensign Adam Danes and I'm reporting back to the bridge.'**

"Release the docking clamps." said Harry. "Janeway, don't ignite your warp core until you've cleared the atmosphere. We don't want to give the Kazons any clue we're down here."

**'Yes sir.'** said Danes.

"Good luck and good hunting, Janeway" said Harry.

Janeway

"Pre-flight checklist complete. We're ready when you are, Voyager." Danes said.

**'Acknowledged, Janeway. Stand by for launch clearance.'**

Danes leaned back in his seat and danced his fingers across the helm console.

"Do we have everything we need with us?" Lt. Ballard asked.

"Yes, ma'am I already checked the list."

**'Janeway, this is shuttle control. You're cleared for launch.'**

"Roger Voyager," said Danes. A few more keystrokes, and Janeway rose off the deck and glided into position over the launch zone.

"Matching shield frequency to Voyager." said Ballard, tapping at her own console. There was a brief blue shimmer outside the cockpit. "Phase inverted."

**'Opening shuttle bay doors.'** shuttle control said with a brief pause. **'Vorik would appreciate it if we could close them again as quickly as possible.'**

"Roger that." Ballard replied. Vorik will forever be Vorik.

Ahead of them, the doors drew open like a curtain. A beam of hellish orange light speared Janeway, widened to lay across the whole shuttlebay like a disease. Voyager's shield was visibly flashing and crackling.

Danes' finger hovered over the launch button. Neither he nor Ballard said anything.

"Well." said Danes. "It's now or never." He jabbed the launch button and Janeway hurled itself towards the shield. The shuttlebay doors were already sliding closed again.

Janeway hit the shield with a bang and rattled so hard Danes thought for a moment they'd screwed up and bounced off. And then they were clear of the nacelles and rising vertically, the shuttle standing on its ass and roaring straight up, trying to clear the troposphere before the atmosphere crushed them. Janeway's engines bellowed as Danes forced them through the air like ocean water, drowning out the alarms. They cleared the canyon walls and there was nothing to see through the cockpit windows except the cloud deck. Danes glanced at the altimeter. The numbers were rising so fast he couldn't read them.

"External pressure falling!" shouted Danes. "Approaching the lower cloud layer."

**'Janeway this is Voyager. What is your status?'**

"Thirty kilometers and climbing, Voyager." The numbers on the external barometer and thermometer were falling. "We're out of the danger zone." Danes scanned his sensors, looking for any dangerous weather. "No thunderstorms nearby. We'll clear the atmosphere in ninety seconds."

**'The closest Kazon scout is six AUs from here. We're transmitting their coordinates now.'**

"It'll take at least an hour to reach them at Warp 4." said Danes. He entered the coordinates. "Engaging." The shuttle zipped away at more than 500 c.

"This system is full of Kazon scouts." muttered Ballard. "I hope there aren't any hanging around Ocampa by the time we get back."

"Does this thing have weapons?" Danes asked, still trying to concentrate on flying.

Ballard tapped on her console. "Type five phasers." she said.

Danes snorted. "That's almost useless"

"Kazon shields only partially block phasers." said Ballard. "On the other hand, their armor holds up fairly well. If we do get into a fight, we'll have to aim for a soft spot."

"What are their scouts like?" Danes asked.

"Thirty meters long. Fastest I've ever seen them travel is warp 7. They maneuver pretty badly at sub-light; not a lot of thrust for their size."

"We can run rings around them, then."

"They're well armed." warned Ballard. "Their heaviest guns are forward mounted, but they've got good coverage from all angles. And they're tough for their size. This shuttle couldn't handle them."

"Just great?" said Danes. "I've been meaning to ask you something ma'am. Why are you here? You're the Engineering Chief. Shouldn't you be on Voyager getting it fixed?"

"I have Vorik on board handling that job." Ballard replied with an unreadable smile on her face. It was a mixture of sadness and something else. "Besides, I think I'm needed here more."

"I have a feeling we're going to find out if that's true or not before all this is over."

Kazon battleship Wrath

"Nothing," said Jabin, reading the display. "No sign of Voyager on subspace sensors. If they're here, their warp core is offline."

"What of the other vessel?" said Razik. Wrath was his flagship, and he maintained a throne on its bridge.

"It's in an eccentric orbit of the star, six AUs out and well above the plane of the ecliptic."

"Is Voyager still on visual sensors?"

"Yes. Right in the same place Maje Maholo found them. But those images are very old. If they restarted their warp drive, they could be anywhere by now."

"None of our observation stations have detected Voyager," said Razik.

"I think we should consider the possibility our observation stations couldn't detect Voyager," said Jabin.

"Perhaps," said Razik.

"We can send the scouts sun-ward into Voyager's light cone. We can at least find out if they're still here."

"No. Not yet. If Voyager is still here, it'll see them coming before they see it. There's safety in numbers for us."

"I obey, First Maje," said Jabin. And then: "I have heard the Halkonnians have subspace sensors which can detect real space mass, not just warp fields. It would be nice to have those."

"Why steal Halkonnian junk when we can steal from the Federation?" said Razik.

"Voyager will fight to the death," said Jabin. "They'll leave nothing of themselves to steal except scrap and ashes."

"Only if we are careless," said Razik.

What the fuck does that mean? thought Jabin. He looked the First Maje over when Razik's attention was diverted. He was starting to suspect Razik's motives for personally commanding the revenge fleet were about more than just honor.

"We can't afford to go easy on Voyager out of greed," said Jabin.

"And we shouldn't waste an opportunity out of spite," said Razik. His tone had gone cold. Jabin changed the subject.

"What should we do about the other ship?" said Jabin. "They're undoubtedly observing us on behalf of Voyager."

"We'll never catch them with a battleship," said Razik. "And I believe that they outgun our scouts. Leave them alone for now. When we locate Voyager, the other ship will be forced to assist, and then we'll engage them both on our terms."


	10. Chapter 9 The Kazon pt 8

Chapter 9

The Kazon pt. 8

Janeway

Lieutenant Lyndsay Ballard glanced at the crate full of antimatter bottles and tried to make the sour feeling in the pit of her stomach go away.

"We've cleared the atmosphere, ma'am." said Danes.

Ballard nervously toggled the communicator. "We're ready, captain." she said.

**'Lyndsay, what are you doing over there?'** Harry's frantic voice sounded over the com-line.

"I'm doing my job, sir." Lyndsay replied defiantly, already knowing that he was angry with her.

**'We're going to have a long talk when you get back.'** said Harry. '**Is the relay link operating?'** His image and voice was static filled, with weird pops and whistles in the background.

"The link is working, but your signal is coming in poorly," Ballard replied, snapping back to professionalism.

**'There's an electrical storm nearby causing interference.'** said Harry. **'Welcome to the wonderful world of radio. Unfortunately, we can't risk a subspace transmission. Make sure you keep close to us. If you wander too far, light-speed lag will start causing problems, too.'**

"Understood, Captain," said Ballard, after relaying Harry's last order to Danes. "Everything is ready here."

**'Well.'** Harry said. **'No time like the present. Hail the Kazon.'**

Wrath

"Lord Razik, we are being hailed," said Wrath's communications operator. He turned to look at the First Maje directly. "It is Captain Kim."

"Well by all means," said Razik, "greet him."

"The signal is audio and visual," said the operator. "The video format is new to me, but...it looks like it has its own decoding instructions built into the signal." The operator, who had to be a certified electrical engineer to serve on the First Maje's ship, was plainly impressed. "Stand by."

"These Federations are very clever, aren't they, Maje Jabin?" said Razik.

"Too clever by half," said Jabin.

A picture appeared on the central view-screen, of a blue starfield encircled by two branches of some sort. "I have the signal, Lord Razik," said the comms operator.

The stars-and-branches card disappeared, replaced by an ashen-skinned Kazonoid sitting in what looked like a starship's control room. His-her?-forehead was smooth and his hair seemed to be composed of straight black strands that came out of his head. He wore a simple red and black tunic with a gold badge and small metallic pips on his collar.

The alien bared its teeth. "I am Captain Harry Kim of the Federation starship Voyager. With whom do I have the pleasure of conversing?"

Male, then, thought Jabin. He could barely contain his revulsion. The alien looked like a giant, talking Kazon fetus. Other aliens in the background shared the same appearance, with minor differences. Maybe Kim was some kind of an albino, he thought, noticing a dark skinned alien standing to the right of him, though that one seemed smaller and female, so maybe it was a different species or subspecies. He looked away; the smooth foreheads were making his skin crawl.

"I am Jal Razik, First Maje of the Kazon Ogla. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the Ocampa system."

"I believe Jal Jabin already formally welcomed us to Kazon space." Harry said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh dear, yes," said Razik. "You have caused me quite a bit of trouble, Captain Kim."

Kim's signal was poor. Hisses, pops, and whines contaminated the audio, and occasionally the colors of the image would invert or the picture would 'ghost'. Jabin quietly slipped over the comms operator.

"Can't you clean that up?" he said.

"I'm trying," said the operator. "It's coming from their end, though."

Jabin scowled. "What's the signal source?"

"It's coming from the planet. Orbiting at low altitude."

"Voyager?"

"I can't tell, Maje Jabin."

"Are you sure this is a subspace signal? This looks like radio interference."

"Absolutely, Maje Jabin."

Harry was speaking. "Maje Jabin caused me trouble first. However, I'm willing to set aside the whole incident as a...misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" hissed Jabin. "He killed-"

Razik gestured for him to keep quiet. Jabin did.

"In fact," said Harry. "I'm even willing to compensate you for the damage to Maje Jabin's ship."

"Oh?" said Razik. Most Kazon, let alone most aliens, wouldn't have been able to read more than mild interest in Razik's voice, but Jabin, who'd known the First Maje since they were shitting their diapers, heard the surprise and excitement. Greedy fat fuck, thought Jabin, resigned. He's going to let Kim buy his way out of his punishment. He knew it was going to end like this. He'd be lucky to see a farthing of whatever Kim paid-Razik was going to stick him with a wrecked ship and no chance to restore his honor.

"In our part of space, several civilizations once issued currency backed by antimatter," said Kim. "Does that sound familiar to you?"

Now Razik couldn't hide his excitement from anyone. "As a matter of fact, the Chalcernodonian crown is backed by antimatter. How ever did you know?"

"A lucky guess," Harry replied with a slick smile. Maybe we'll get out of this after all.

Neelix! thought Jabin. That alien was always picking fleas out of his ass, sorting through garbage, and humming show tunes, and now he was a snitch. "I'll take care of you, too," muttered Jabin.

"A lucky guess indeed," said Razik.

"I'm willing to offer the Kazon-Ogla five kilograms of anti-deuterium as payment for the damage inflicted to your ship."

Razik's entire face shined with avarice. Even Jabin was given pause. Five kilos, an absolute fortune...

"There are two conditions," Harry added.

"Name them," said Razik.

"First, you withdraw your fleet from this system until we leave. Second, we know you've been in contact with the Caretaker in the past. We want to know every detail of that contact. Every word."

"I can send you all our files on the Caretaker right away." the Kazons claim of the array now forgotten. "But leaving the system...for that, we might need something more," said Razik.

"Such as?" Harry asked.

"Such as the secret of your teleporting bombs. Or subspace sensors small enough to fit on a starship."

"I'm afraid I can't offer that," Harry replied. "The laws of my people forbid exchanging our technology."

"How unfortunate," said Razik.

"I can offer you more antimatter," said Harry.

"How much more?"

"Another five kilos," Harry said gritting his teeth. He really didn't want to give over that much but soon he hoped to be back in the Alpha Quadrant. "Five now, and another five we'll leave behind when we leave. You can leave one or two ships to monitor us, but not the entire fleet."

"How will you deliver the first five kilos?"

"As you have probably seen, we're out of the system. I hope you understand that after the arrival of fifteen of your battleships, we thought it might be...prudent if we left."

"An understandable precaution," said Razik.

"However, the starship USS Janeway can ferry the antimatter to you."

Several officers in the control room looked around in confusion, but Razik kept his cool. "That would be acceptable," said Razik. "Perhaps we could meet at the fifth planet?"

"We can meet you in the Kuiper belt," said Harry.

Jabin was only half-listening to the conversation. He was looking for patterns in the static. He eased over to the comms operator again. "Have you seen interference like that before? Solar flares, perhaps?"

"I don't think it's being caused by solar interference," he said. "Look at these static spikes. That looks like nearby lightning strikes."

"An electrical storm?" said Jabin.

"That would be my guess."

"They're in a planetary atmosphere," said Jabin. "Could they...Ocampa?"

"I don't know, Maje Jabin. The pressure on the surface...but I'm no mechanical engineer. And who knows what these aliens can do?"

"Can you tell if it's a gas giant storm or a terrestrial storm?"

"Perhaps. Give me some time to analyze it."

"Quick as you can," said Jabin.

"There's no need for you to come all the way to the Kuiper belt," said Razik.

"We would hate to trouble you," Harry added, trying his best to stay calm.

"It's no trouble at all," said Razik.

"I insist," said Harry with a toothy grin.

Razik leaned back and chuckled. "As you wish, Kim. We eagerly await Janeway's arrival."

"I will dispatch them immediately," Harry replied.

"I will give them our files on the Caretaker as soon as they arrive," said Razik.

"Excellent," Harry replied nervously. "If we have no further business...?"

"None whatsoever."

"We'll be in contact. Kim out." The screen went blank.

"That man must think I'm an imbecile," said Razik.

"What are we doing, First Maje?" said Jabin.

"They're hiding somewhere in this solar system," said Razik. "I trust you are working on that problem already?"

"Yes, First Maje."

"Good. Do you think you can discover where they're hiding without using scouts?"

Jabin looked to the comms operator. The operator indicated he could. "Yes, Maje Razik," said Jabin.

"Good. Move the scouts between the orbits of the fifth and sixth planets, but hold them there. No need to spook Kim if he's still here."

"He got help from Neelix. He couldn't have just guessed we use antimatter for money."

"Hmm," said Razik. "It looks to me like he's current on his salvage lease."

"Perhaps," said Jabin, "we'll just deal with him later."

"But for now, we'll wait here for Kim's generous 'gift' to arrive. At least now we know the name of the second starship in the system," he said, shooting Jabin a troubled glance, "so we will take care of it first. By then, we should know where Voyager is. After we take care of Janeway, we'll flush out Voyager and take care of them, too. And then, Maj Jabin, we will have a settle accounts with the Caretaker."

"Yes, my lord," said Jabin. "What about their teleporting bombs?"

"Randomly vary the power-up and firing timing on your coilguns," said Razik. "The trick depends on them predicting openings in our shields ahead of time."

"You're betting they can't teleport through shields," said Jabin.

"If they can teleport through shields, we have no chance against them no matter how many ships we bring," said Razik.

"That fact would seem to warrant caution, my lord," said Jabin.

"Ah, but Maje Jabin," said Razik, "If they could teleport through our shields, why would they be hiding?"

Jabin considered that. When he realized he had no good answer, he smiled.

"My lord," said the sensor operator, "the Spyglance is detecting a new warp field in-system, near Ocampa. Configuration unfamiliar, but it'd probably the ship they told us about. It's coming this way at ten times c."

"Half an hour, then," said Razik. "Excellent. All ships, prepare for battle."

Voyager

The connection with the Kazon went dead.

**'We're ready, captain.'** said Lyndsay over the com-line.

"Go. Your orders are to try to get their information about the Caretaker, but if things fall apart, blow up the Spyglance and get out of there."

**"Understood, sir,"** said Lyndsay Ballard. **"Janeway out."**

The connection with Janeway broke. There was silence on the bridge. Most of the lights were out to save power and to help cool the inside of the ship.

"Miss Campbell, exterior camera view, please." Harry ordered.

The main view-screen, which had been blank, flashed on. Voyager was sitting on a flat canyon bottom. Harry could just make out the trench walls in the murky distance, hidden by heat shimmers and dust suspended in the impossibly thick, impossibly orange air.

"We're getting fantastic data, Captain," Ahni spoke up. "The seismic readings alone...this isn't like any class N planet I've ever seen, sir."

Harry wished he could be excited. Now the only thing he heard was "seismic". "Is there any danger to us from seismic activity?"

"Not from earthquakes," she said. "We're far enough from the canyon walls we're in no danger from rock slides. It looks like all the loose material has fallen already. The sediment we're resting on is dry and compact; it won't liquefy."

"What about volcanic activity?"

"We're five thousand kilometers from the mid-ocean ridge. That's where most of the active volcanoes on this planet are. The subduction zone we're in doesn't seem to have any active volcanoes associated with it...which is damn weird. Pardon me, sir. Plate tectonics must have frozen already, which is unheard of on class N which tipped over from M so recently."

"If tectonics have frozen, why are we getting seismic readings at all?"

"The crust is frozen, but the mantle is very hot and active. If the star didn't show every sign of being a middle-aged G3V, I would assume this was a much younger planet. And...Captain, without better two more seismometers, I can't tell for sure, but there appears to be a very hot mantle plume directly beneath that tower a hundred klicks from here."

"Did they build the tower in a caldera volcano?"

Ahni shook her head. "The topographic data doesn't look like it. The tower is standing in a river delta, so maybe river sediment buried all of it, but we have good radar data all the way down to the bedrock, and there's no sign of previous eruptions. In fact, there's no evidence of mantle plume volcanism anywhere near here."

"Must be a new plume." Harry noted.

"It would be an odd coincidence if it were." Ahni continued.

"Not if the tower builders wanted to take advantage of geothermal power."

"Captain, the mantle nearby is…fractured. It suggests the plume is rising extraordinarily fast; I've never seen anything like it."

Harry's head hurt from all the thinking. "Just keep working on it," he said. "Are we in any danger of an eruption?"

Ahni shook her head. "I don't think so, sir."

"Good. Just keep gathering data. We can analyze it when we get home."

"Yes, sir," Ahni Jetal said..

Harry squeezed his eyes closed, trying to focus through the discomfort and exhaustion. Half an hour until Janeway reached the Kazons.

Janeway

"Approaching Kazon battle-fleet." said Danes.

"Drop warp," Lyndsay ordered. "Load the transporter. Keep the shields up until I say to drop them. Phasers on standby."

Janeway dropped to sub-light speed sixty thousand kilometers from the Kazon battle group. "Their shields are up," said Danes. "They're on their guard." He instructed the computer to highlight the e-war ship on the main view-screen. Then he took a deep breath and hailed Jal Razik.

Wrath

"We are being hailed by Janeway," said the comms operator.

"Show me the ship," said Razik.

Janeway appeared on the main view-screen. It was about the same size as a scout, with external warp nacelles mounted on wings.

"Not very intimidating, is it?" said Razik. "Answer their hails."

"They say they're ready to download information about the Caretaker."

"Tell them we don't have the subspace bandwidth to send it quickly," said Razik. "We will have to use a comms laser. Make sure they maintain a constant velocity and heading."

"They have agreed," said the operator.

"It's only a few quads," said Jabin. "They'll see through this."

"Then send them whatever," said Razik. "Payroll reports, sports highlights, pornography, anything. Just keep feeding them garbage until we get a firing solution."

"Yes, Maje Razik," said Jabin.

Janeway

"Here it comes," said Danes. "It looks like it's encrypted, but the computer is cracking it. Standby."

Lyndsay gripped the sides of her chair. "Ensign Danes, be ready to go to warp. Don't even wait for my command. As soon as they start powering their guns, we go to maximum warp. Get us as close to that e-war ship as you can."

"Got it!" Danes said as the computer started bringing up the data. "Looks like there are actual reports about their encounters with the Caretaker here. Video too, standby, generating a codec."

"Show it to me," said Lyndsay.

An inset appeared in the main view-screen. A naked Kazon was having fellatio done on him by a naked female Kazon.

"What a bunch of assholes," Lyndsay grumbled in disgust. The computer sounded an alarm; they had just been pinged by a tracking radar.

"Power up sequence!" said Danes. "Going to warp!"

* * *

><p>"We have a firing solution on Janeway." said Jabin.<p>

"Fire at will!" said Razik.

Wrath shook with the power of a full alpha strike-massive overkill for a tiny scout. Every other ship in the fleet fired, too, creating a cone of death a hundred kilometers across, with Janeway right in the middle.

What happened next was so fast not even the computers could keep up.

The subspace sensors detected a massive warp spike from Janeway and saw the ship warping faster than light to a position less than a hundred meters from the Spyglance. But the radar, infrared, and visible light sensors which controlled the guns saw two Janeway's. The confusion lasted less than a tenth of a second, but it was long enough to delay the guns' reaction. Jabin had just noticed something was wrong when Janeway fired on the Spyglance.

* * *

><p>Janeway's phasers ripped at the e-war ship's shields. Up close, it looked like a collection of radar dishes glued to a cylinder a third of a kilometer long. The shields, which had been designed by the Kazon to block kinetic weapons and lasers, flickered under particle beam bombardment. Sparks flew from the sensor dishes and the ship's hull.<p>

"Our phasers are getting partial burn through," said Danes.

"Mr. Danes, keep us moving, full impulse. Stay as close to the e-war ship as you can." The e-war ship is unarmed, thought Lyndsay. No transporter bombs here unless we can knock a hole in the shield.

Danes took these contradictory commands and pulled a maneuver that made the inertial dampers wail in agony. Lyndsay was impressed but was thrown around in her seat.

"Hull stresses exceeding safety margins!" shouted Danes.

"Keep moving!" Lyndsay shouted. She keyed the phaser firing buttons and kept blasting the e-war ship. "Bring us across their bow. That's where the subspace array is."

* * *

><p>"They're firing some kind of particle beam weapon at the Spyglance," said Jabin. "The shields are only partially containing it. They're doing terrific damage to the sensor arrays."<p>

"The sub-light sensors don't matter," said Razik. "Just keep them off the subspace array. All nearby ships, fire your point defense into this area," he said, his fingers dancing across a touch screen as he spoke. "Don't worry about the Spyglance; PD rounds won't penetrate its shields."

* * *

><p>Janeway whipped across the bow of the e-war ship, right into a cloud of bullets. The shuttle's shields flickered continuously, rapidly eroding away. The phasers flashed uselessly against the Spyglance's reinforced forward shields.<p>

"Warp out!" Lyndsay growled. The warp drive roared for less than a second, and they were ten thousand kilometers away from the fleet. "Micro-torpedoes ready. Targeting the e-war ship."

"Warping back." said Danes.

The warp engine lit up again. Janeway fired its entire magazine of grenade-sized antimatter missiles in one burst. The missiles struck the bow of the Spyglance just as Janeway came to rest at the stern. Danes hit the impulse throttle and Janeway skimmed over the e-war's ship dorsal side, raking it with phaser fire. They passed the bow, where the shields were still fizzing and glowing, enough to block transporters but not much else. Janeway gave the ship a solid phaser shot in the face. They penetrated, splitting one of the detector's hexagonal cells before the shields recovered. More point defense bullets chewed away at the tiny ship however. They warped off again, this time to three full light seconds away.

"Janeway to Voyager," Lyndsay said breathlessly.

**'This is Kim.'**

"Captain, the subspace array is protected by heavy shields. We managed to knock them down momentarily and damage one cell, but we can't penetrate them again with what we have left. What are your orders?"

**'We're not going to get another opportunity like this.'** Harry told her. **'Warp back to transporter range, try to goad the battleships into firing their main guns so they can damage the e-wars shields. Kill as many as you can, transport a torpedo into the damaged section and get out of there.'**

"Yes, sir." Lyndsay replied nervously. "Warp to within twenty-five thousand kilometers of the Kazons. Be ready to drop shields"

* * *

><p>"They're back," said Jabin. "They're making an attack run on us."<p>

"Could they make it any more obvious?" snorted Razik. "Well, let's oblige them. Target them with main batteries."

* * *

><p>"Main guns powering up," Danes reported. "You take over from here and lower the shields. I'm going to go back to the transporter room and activate the automatic transport sequence."<p>

From behind the cockpit Lyndsay heard the whine of the transporter.

* * *

><p>Danes had minored in transporter operations at the Academy. He had a knack for the finicky machines, an instinct for their operations that bought the USS Janeway and her crew approximately ten extra seconds of life.<p>

When the transporter beam struck the Kazon shields, it "bounced" and the antimatter bottle re-materialized on Janeway's transporter pad. The problem was, the bottle's containment field was on a five second timer. And there wasn't enough time to cycle the transporter again.

He did the only thing he could do. With one hand, he convinced the computer to open the airlock, and with the other, he raised the emergency force-field to keep the rest of the ship from depressurizing. He snatched the bottle off the pad just as the doors blew open, and, pushing off the deck as the air rushed out, leaped off the ship with a bottle of death clutched to his chest. He was three kilometers clear of the shuttle when the seals fell and antimatter touched matter, searing and vaporizing him with enough raw gamma rays to kill a Brontosaurus.

Lyndsay knew she was dead even before she heard the radiation alarm. "Voyager, this is Janeway," she said. "We have taken severe damage. We will try to complete our mission." Pause. "Harry, I wanted you to know that I had a crush on you in the Academy. I love you and please tell my family I love them too when you get Voyager home." She sent Voyager a copy of all the data the Kazons had sent her, then cut the com.

The world was starting to spin. Big dose, she thought. She'd be unconscious in seconds, but she focused long enough to put a course into the computer, made the sign of the cross and prayed the isolinear chips hadn't all been fried, hit the "engage" button, and then slumped over into a coma.

The Federation shuttlecraft Janeway lit her warp engines one last time. She slammed into the weakened forward shields of the Spyglance at warp 3 with nearly five kilograms of antimatter still on board. When the dust cleared, there was nothing left of the Spyglance but a slowly spreading field of molten junk.


	11. Chapter 10 The Kazon pt 9

Chapter 10

The Kazon pt. 9

Voyager

Captains Quarters

Harry started to dry heave as the last of what he had in his stomach went into his toilet. On shaky hands and knees, he sat on the floor as his chest went up and down in a tightened rhythm. He had just listened to his friend Lyndsay Ballard's last message. Her last message to him and it broke his heart.

Standing to his feet, he walked out into the bedroom and noticed that the cabin lights were low. At the moment he really appreciated that. Looking up, he saw Tom sitting on his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Tom asked, already knowing the answer.

"They were waiting for it." said Harry, ignoring Tom's question. "They didn't just know how to block a transporter bomb, they knew how to throw it back at us."

"How did they do it?"

"They varied their power-up timing."

Tom nodded. That's what he would have done. "They're backwards, but they're not stupid." he said. "You know the difference between a tactic and a trick?"

"What's that?"

"A trick only works once."

Harry sighed. "I killed her... them."

"I know how you feel, Harry." Tom replied sadly. "But the people I killed didn't have a choice in the matter. This wasn't your fault."

"Tom..."

"Let me finish." Tom demanded, suddenly looking serious. "Lyndsay and Adam died in the line of duty to buy us time and to save our lives. There's no higher honor then dying like that Harry. I'm going to give you some advice that I learned from somebody who didn't even know they gave it to me. Stop making their sacrifice all about you and honor the people who died by doing the right thing. You wanna know who gave me that advice?"

"Wh... who?" Harry asked barely holding on.

"You did Harry." Tom said as he stood up and put his hand on the other man's shoulder. "You taught me that when you decided to become my best friend and when you made me this ships first officer. You gave me a second chance at redeeming myself for the people I killed and I'm going to take it. Now pull yourself together because this ship needs it's Captain to get us home."

"Do you... do you think about the people who died?" Harry asked quietly.

"Everyday." Tom admitted, his voice low and almost inaudible.

"How do you cope with it?"

"By taking this second chance you gave me." The words hung in the air as Tom said it. Even though when I get back to the Alpha Quadrant that will all be gone.

"Because of Lyndsay and Adam's sacrifice they bought us time. You said the Kazons have fallen back deeper in the Kuiper Belt, and their scouts are advancing slowly."

"A few hours at most." Tom replied turning all business like.

"That's better than what we had." Harry realized.

"We can't hide forever."

"Then let's not. Get the warp core back online and let's show them what this ship can really do."

Tom shook his head. "There's not enough time. Vorik's working as fast as he can, but they'll be here before he's finished."

I waited too long, Harry thought. My fault. Everything's my fault.

Tom had an answer. "Let B'Elanna help."

Well, Harry thought, What's the worst that could happen? We'll all die? He laughed, once, a short bark that he refused to explain to his first officer.

"You shouldn't laugh Harry." Tom took offense. "B'Elanna might have been in the Maquis but she's one of the best engineers I've ever seen."

"I wasn't laughing at her... I... Computer where is B'Elanna Torres?" Harry asked into the air.

'B'Elanna Torres is on deck six in the armory room.' The Computer replied.

The armory room. Damn that doesn't sound good, Tom thought to himself. "I'll go and get her."

"No, I will." Harry replied as he walked to the door. "Report to the bridge." and with that he was out the door.

"Aye sir." Tom mumbled to himself.

Deck Six

Armory Room

B'Elanna picked up a couple of hand phasers and stuffed them into a grey duffle bag. She was heading to Engineering earlier but a thought occurred to her halfway to the room. They'd never fucking let me help anyway. Wondering around aimlessly for awhile, she suffered from an old saying. Idle hands and idle minds are the devil's workshop. Especially after she heard about two more Starfleet officers dying at their hands. She was consumed with thoughts of what the Kazon had done to her and it was time to open up shop on them, whenever she got the chance. Maybe she'd even steal a shuttle-craft if she had to. Seeing a med-kit stuffed in a corner locker, she picked it up and put it in there too before selecting a phaser rifle.

"Where do you think you're going with all of that?" a voice asked behind her. Startled, B'Elanna turned around and brought her weapon up. "Hey relax." Harry said as he threw his hands up.

"What the fuck do you want!?" B'Elanna growled, her hand twitching on the trigger.

"I just want to talk to you."

"Then start fucking talking." B'Elanna replied as she put the phaser rifle on kill.

"B'Elanna, Tom told me... Tom told me that you were the best engineer he ever met." Harry started off nervously. "That's why I came to ask if you would be my new Chief Engineer."

"You're kidding, right?" B'Elanna asked with wide eyes.

"No, I'm not," said Harry. "Everyone on board needs your help. I need your help."

Barely controlling her anger B'Elanna glared at him. "Why should I risk my life to help the Federation?" In her mind's eye, she could see the discharge letter from Starfleet: Unfit for service...lacks emotional maturity and self-control...unrelated to Klingon physiology, despite Cadet Torres's claims…psychological treatment strongly recommended. She'd been holding together for more than a year; finished top in her class in mathematics, aced the entrance exam, had no problem with the psych screening. She'd cruised through boot camp when "tougher" cadets crumpled under the strain. And then she started classes, and in a few months, she'd come apart again. They promised they'd reconsider admitting her if she went through treatment and passed another psych screening.

"Tom told me how stubborn you were. Why don't you think about someone besides yourself for once?" Harry asked.

"I did! Fat lot of good it did me." B'Elanna told him. "And what the fuck gives you the right to try to judge me? You don't know shit about me."

"B'Elanna, if you don't help me, everyone on board is going to die." said Harry.

"Why should I give a flying fuck?" she asked. "For the first time in my life, I actually agree with my mom. Today is a good day to die."

"Look deep into her eyes Harry." Captain Janeway said to him as she started circling behind B'Elanna, never taking her eyes off of the other woman. "The Kazon hurt her and violated her in a way a woman should never be violated."

After a moment of thought, Harry thought about what Janeway said and he indeed looked into her eyes and he knew what the Kazon had done to her and why she was so angry.

"What the fuck are you looking at!?" B'Elanna asked, snapping him back into reality.

"Hopefully, I'm looking at someone that will one day be my friend." Harry admitted as he inched closer to her. "But right now B'Elanna I need you to be my Engineer." Clearing his throat he went on. "B'Elanna, I know what the Kazon did to you."

"Who told..."

"No one did." Harry said as he extended his hand for her to take. "I know what the Kazon are like... because... because of what the other girls told me they did to them. B'Elanna, I can't offer you a lot, but I can offer you something a lot better then death."

"Which is..."

"Revenge." Harry told her seriously. "And we can't seek revenge on the Kazon unless we fix this ship and get the hell out of here. What I'm saying is... I need you."

With shaking hands, B'Elanna looked into Harry's eyes and knew that he was as green as shit. But there was one thing she did see in him and that was that he was telling her the truth. Not really wanting to die today, she handed the rifle over to him.

"Damn you Tom." she mumbled to herself, not knowing that he was lurking in the shadows watching them. Having seen that they had found their strength, Tom went to the bridge. "Remind me to kill him later."

Harry wondered how literal she was being, before he spoke. "I wanted to say how sorry I was about your friends... the Maquis."

"Don't talk about..."

"I know how you feel." Harry cut her off. "I lost a good friend today."

"I'd better go." said B'Elanna, not wanting to get caught up in emotion again. "One more thing, though. I have some advice for you."

"What is it?" he asked, expecting some tactical insight that would help them if the Kazon suddenly rushed to Ocampa. She was in the Maquis and she would know what to do.

"Get some sleep." she simply said.

"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously. "But there's so much to do."

"Trust your crew to do it, Starfleet." As she gave him that nickname it seemed to have just rolled off of her tongue. "They're trained just like you; they can look after themselves for a few hours."

"Will a few hours make any difference?"

"Like Chakotay once told me, it could be the difference between the right decision and the wrong one. Or the right decision in time and the right decision too late."

Harry wanted to argue with her, but after all the talk of sleep, it was suddenly as if his mind was full of pancake syrup. He was holding off fatigue by sheer willpower and running out of it fast. Voyager was, for the moment, immobile and hidden. If anything was going to go wrong, it would go wrong with or without him on the bridge.

"Okay." Harry replied with a nod. "Before you go to Engineering, I want you to change into a proper Starfleet uniform. Have Tom arrange it so you're officially with the crew... Lieutenant."

"I don't really see the point of making it official when I'll be arrested when we get back to the Alpha Quadrant."

"Before we go back, I'll have Doctor Zimmerman do facial reconstructive surgery on you and you can escape in a shuttle pod as soon as we get to the Alpha Quadrant." Harry told her. "After all that's happened that's the least that I can do for you."

"I'm sorry about your friend and that I almost shot you." B'Elanna said in surprise that he would do that for her.

"It happens." Harry replied with a sad smile.

They parted with a salute. Harry started wandering in the direction of his cabin. He paused a moment to lean against the wall to rest, and was startled to wake up on the floor five minutes later, having fallen asleep standing up.

Main Engineering

Having changed into a proper Starfleet uniform, B'Elanna walked into Engineering and her eyes went wide and she wanted to drool as she saw the warp core and all of the high tech equipment. She loved the Val Jean to death, even though it constantly fell apart, but this was a definite upgrade. Taking her eyes off of the engine room she'd already fallen in love with, she scanned the room and saw a Vulcan working on something on a bench.

"Hey you, Vorik?" she asked as she walked up to the man.

"Yes." Vorik answered as he turned around and looked at her and then at the pips on her collar. The Captain told him to expect a new arrival.

"Good, I'm B'Elanna and I'm in charge down here." she went on. "We have a lot of stuff to fix and a short amount of time to fix it in. Now get the lead out and let's get to work."

"Yes ma'am." Vorik answered with a raised eyebrow as he handed the woman a Padd with a list of things that needed to be fixed.

"What the hell have you been doing all this time?" she said.

"Making repairs to everything else that's broken on this tub," said Rodriguez, the senior chief petty officer. "And inspecting the system. The good news is, we can still get warp speed from the portside nacelle. Unfortunately, the starboard plasma injector is completely shot, so we'll have to run on one nacelle."

"Do you have a spare injector?" said Torres.

"No," said Rodriguez.

"Typical Starfleet," sneered Torres.

"The plasma injectors for an Intrepid class starship weigh twenty-six tons each," said Ensign Vorik. "It would not be practical to carry a spare, as we have no way to install it in the field."

"All right, what about the core itself?"

"There doesn't appear to be any cracking or spalling in the reaction chamber or the dilithium matrix," said Rodriguez. "And the antimatter injectors themselves are working."

"Then are we ready to restart?" said Torres.

"No," said Rodriguez. "The antimatter constrictor valve is shot."

Torres rolled her eyes. The ACV weighed less than a kilogram and could be installed in fifteen minutes. "So replace it," she said.

"I checked the cargo manifest. The spares were delivered to DS9 but they were never loaded on the ship. And we can't replicate the force field relays, so don't even ask."

Torres cursed in Klingon.

"It's such a simple part," said Torres.

For the first time, Rodriguez seemed sympathetic. "Yeah, it is," he said. "Until it breaks and you don't have a replacement."

"Broken down..." Torres mumbled to herself. And then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. "Neelix."

Wrath, en route to Ocampa

"That fucking cunt!" bellowed Jabin. "That fucking cunt and that fucking ship! How could Kim have possibly escaped Ocampa without our notice?"

"He couldn't have!" said the radio operator. "Our advance probes are covering every escape angle. Unless Voyager can make itself invisible, it couldn't possibly have taken off without being seen."

Jabin clenched his fists and tried to calm down. Screaming wasn't going to find Kim. "What's the disposition of our forces?"

"Scout Group Seven is still hunting for Voyager's light cone, approaching Maje Tulley. Maje Cozak's subspace transponder reports they're approaching the main fleet at faster-than-light. There's still no sign of Voyager."

"I want to speak with Group Seven."

"Putting them through now," said the operator. The frightened face of some junior officer appeared on the tele-screen.

"Report!" said Jabin.

"We never saw Voyager on any of our sensors, my lord."

Anger was building in Jabin again. "Get me Group Leader Sankur. On video."

The young Kazon captain's face appeared on a video screen. "This is Sankur. How may I serve you, Lord Jabin?"

"Tell me you've found Neelix."

"We've found nothing, my lord. It's as if he disappeared into the black."

"You mean to tell me that a junkman eluded you?" Jabin asked. Before he could answer the operator handed him a script-pad.

"My lord, I have Maje Cozak's sensor logs." said the operator.

"Find me the part where Voyager shows up."

He did, and Jabin studied the tracks. The visible light, infrared, and radar signatures all looked like Voyager...but the gravitic sensors were blank.

"Tell Sankur I want his gravitic sensor logs, too."

"He claims he sent them," said the operator.

Jabin stared at the flat line on the gravity sensor.

"Small Group Leader Sankur, would you please summon your first officer?"

"Of course, my lord." He disappeared off screen for a few moments, and returned with his deputy, a man who looked rightfully terrified to be summoned before an angry Maje.

"What's your name, Deputy Small Group Leader?"

"Sorzar, Lord Jabin."

"Sorzar, do you have your personal weapon with you?"

"Yes, Lord Jabin."

"Good. Take it and execute Small Group Leader Sankur for cowardice."

"What?" said Sankur.

"I'm not going to ask you again."

"My lord, wait-"

Sorzar placed the barrel of his gun against Sankur's head and pulled the trigger. Sankur dropped.

"Thank you, Small Group Leader Sorzar. Cozak is your ship. I suggest you put it to better use than Sankur did."

"I will, my lord. Thank you, my-"

Jabin cut off the signal. "All ships, make best speed for Ocampa."

Razik waddled onto the bridge. "What's this I hear about an execution, Maje Jabin?"

"I had Small Group Commander Sankur shot for cowardice and stupidity."

Razik grunted. "No terrible loss there. But why are you looking for Neelix?"

"Because, I have reason to believe that Voyager's warp core is offline. If it is then they never left Ocampa. With Neelix helping them he might have a part they need to fix their ship. Either way we'll be on top of it in half an hour."

"Then perhaps Neelix isn't in the black." Razik reasoned. "He's probably been on Voyager this whole time cowering like the worm he is."

"Then it's for the best." Jabin spoke up. "Now all of them can die in one crippling blow."


	12. Chapter 11 The Kazon pt 10

A/N All right guys this is Voyagers final bout with the Kazon, I hope you all have enjoyed this.

Chapter 11

The Kazon pt. 10

Voyager

Fourteen Hours Later

Harry sat in the captain's chair, sweat soaking his uniform. It was over ninety eight degrees on the bridge and the temperature was rising. He had gone to sleep like B'Elanna had suggested and he felt a little rested but the heat that was now venting into the ship was draining him. "Where are the Kazons?" He asked while idly wondering how Roman was doing on the Caretakers array.

"Practically on top of us, captain." Lt. Campbell reported, exhausted from the heat.

Harry nodded and tapped his combadge. "Engineering, are you ready?"

**'Everything is prepped and ready to go.'** said B'Elanna over the com-line. '**I had to go into Neelix's supply of junk parts but I managed to find an alien ACV. As soon as we reconfigure the piece, we'll install it.'**

"How soon until we have warp power after that?" Harry asked.

**'We can button the warp core up quickly, but it will take twenty minutes to warm up the dilithium matrix.'**

"Twenty minutes?!"

**'I'm sorry, Starfleet but that's as fast as it's physically possible to do it.'**

"I know." Harry replied as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead, before tapping at his combadge. It was time to get the hell off of this rock. "Transporter room. Bring repulsors online."

**'Yes, sir.'** Came the voice of the Transporter Chief.

Voyager started shaking as the anti-gravity lifts built up power. "Engineering, divert everything except the shields to the repulsors. Get us off the ground."

**'Aye captain.'** B'Elanna replied.

The computer sounded an alarm. "WARNING! CIRCUIT BREAKER FAILURE ON PORT IMPULSE POWER COUPLING. PORT IMPULSE POWER COUPLING AMPERAGE OVER RATED LIMIT."

"What's wrong with the circuit breakers, engineering?" Harry asked nervously.

**'I welded them closed!'** Torres yelled to him over the sound of the noise that was building.

"Fair enough." Harry replied with a smirk. B'Elanna really was unpredictable.

"WARNING! ANTIGRAVITY REPULSOR SYSTEM OVERHEATING! SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IMMINENT!"

"Should I shut it down?" Lt. Campbell asked.

"No. When I want you to shut them down, I'll tell you!" Harry yelled as the noise kept building. "Engineering-"

**'I'm on it.'** B'Elanna replied.

"WARNING! EMERGENCY REPULSOR SHUTDOWN DISABLED! REPULSOR SYSTEM TEMPERATURE EXCEEDING RATED LIMIT. SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT."

Come on, damnit, Harry prayed.

There was a shudder, and suddenly Voyager's nose lurched up.

"That's it, engineering!" Harry yelled. There was another shudder and the stern came up, too. Voyager rose rapidly out of the canyon.

"Retracting landing gear." Lt. Campbell said as she worked her console.

"Helm, get us into takeoff altitude. All hands, this is the Captain. Brace for liftoff."

Voyager's nose tilted up again, up to forty-five degrees, as steep an angle as the repulsors could manage. She hung for a moment in the scalding air.

"Engage impulse." Harry ordered.

There was a blast like the end of the world, and then a steady deafening roar that drowned out a thousand alarms.

Voyager rocketed through Ocampa's atmosphere on a pillar of fire.

"Helm, take us to fifty kilometers and level off!" Harry bellowed. At fifty kilometers above the surface, the temperature and pressure were almost Earth-normal, low enough for the extreme heat to start dissipating from the ship.

Suddenly Campbell's console started to beep. "Captain it's the Kazons. They're converging on almost the exact same point we're trying to take off from. I think they have a pretty good idea where we were hiding, sir."

"You might be right," Harry agreed. "Tactical, load torpedoes. Let's give them something to think about when they drop warp."

The bridge doors slid open. "Permission to enter the bridge, captain?" said Rollins.

"Granted," Harry replied, genuinely happy to see the other man. He patted the empty first officer's chair and Tom sat down as Rollins went to work at Tactical.

"We're off the planet and the Kazons are starting to surround us." Rollins reported.

"On screen." Commander Paris ordered.

Lt. Campbell switched to the ships forward and side cameras. Fifteen battle-wagons and twice that many scouts were less than one thousand kilometers and closing in on Voyager.

"Mr. Rollins!" That was all Harry had to say before four photon torpedoes went screaming into space and struck the lead Kazon battleship, and completely blew it apart.

* * *

><p>Wrath<p>

Razik and Jabin stared in disbelief and horror as four antimatter missiles struck the battleship Revenge and destroyed it in seconds.

"This was a mistake," said Razik.

They can't have that many missiles, thought Jabin. Those damn Federations. "All battleships, return to warp!" said Jabin. "Rendezvous on the far side of the moon! Scouts, advance forward.

* * *

><p>Harry was happy that Voyagers opening salvo seemed to have driven the battleships away but he knew that they would come back. Focusing back on the battle, he felt as the ship darted and weaved and desperately tried to avoid the weapons fire from the Kazon scouts.<p>

"Ahni, come about mark zero three five!" Tom shouted. "Mr. Rollins, lock phasers on target India and fire as soon as you have a shot!"

"Lyssa, I need more power to the phasers!" Rollins shouted over to Lt. Campbell.

Voyager then rocked with a hit from behind.

"Bogey on our tail." Rollins reported. "Aft phasers are off line; I can't scrape him off."

"Captain, I'm detecting high concentrations of plutonium-238 and uranium-235 in the missile warheads those scouts are shooting at us." Campbell reported. "Those are nukes."

"Target them!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, we have a nuclear strike inbound on our position." Tom tried his best to whisper over to Harry. "What the hell are we going to do?"

"Try our best to avoid them."

* * *

><p>Wrath<p>

"The scouts have Voyager targeted. They're diving back into the atmosphere."

"All battleships, warp back to Ocampa." said Razik.

* * *

><p>Voyager reached out with quick, cool phaser shots, just enough to send the missiles tumbling.<p>

"We're not getting them fast enough." Ensign Ahni Jetal muttered worriedly.

The missiles weren't shielded and weren't dodging very well, but they were rocketing down at Mach 25. From down below the clouds came phaser shots from Voyager, swatting more away, but they weren't whittling their numbers down fast enough, either.

Voyager plunged into Ocampa's nightmarish atmosphere, missiles closing in. Harry gripped his armrests with sweating hands and wished there was something he could actually do.

"Three missiles closing in." Campbell reported. "Ten seconds to impact!"

Managing to get the aft phasers to work for a second, a shot from Voyager blew one of the missiles away. The ship nailed another with a snap burst from the short emitters on the back side of her saucer. The final missile burned in clean.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Harry yelled over the com-line.

The missile's warhead detonated a kilometer above them. Voyager's shields were seared by a blaze of hellish light. An instant later came the blast wave, striking Voyager's entire dorsal profile, crushing the ship like the hammer of God.

On the bridge, the crew was tossed around in their seats. Something behind the forward bulkhead exploded, spraying Ahni with shards of burning plastic, making her scream and fall to the deck.

Harry waited a beat for her backup to take over, only to realize there weren't any backups left. "Bridge to sickbay! Medical emergency!" he shouted. With nobody at the control, the ship pitched aft, dragged down by the weight of the warp coils. She was very close to falling "off" her repulsor beams and plunging ass-first all the way to the ground.

Instinctively running forward, Tom took the Helm and managed to level the ship off, just as a few officers came on the bridge to take Ahni away. It was then that Harry realized that there were thirteen battleships left. Voyager didn't have enough photon torpedoes to stop them all.

* * *

><p>Wrath<p>

Jabin clicked on the all-fleet radio circuit. "Voyager is trying to climb high enough that the air doesn't crush their antimatter missiles," he said. "Don't let them." He turned to Razik. "Another nuclear strike-"

"No," said Razik. "We might still be able to salvage something."

Jabin didn't get angry; he'd expected it. If enough of the wreckage from the ship survived, he was going to make sure Ogla engineers learned everything they could about the Federation so they could adapt what they learned to their society. In that, at least, he could understand Razik's reasoning.

"I have Voyager bracketed with the main guns," said the weapons office.

"Fire!" said Jabin.

* * *

><p>Voyager had been taking Kazon shell hits for several minutes. Even with her shields badly weakened, she'd held them off, and the Kazons either couldn't or wouldn't put together another coordinated nuclear strike. Just that one thing gave Harry hope that they'd get out of this after all.<p>

Later he'd think if Voyager had turned, she might have gotten out from underneath Wrath's guns.

The Kazon heavy shell was made of depleted uranium and weighed nearly half a ton. It blew through Voyager's dorsal shields like a bullet through a soap bubble, through the entire thickness of the saucer, and out the other side.

On the way through, it had obliterated the power junction supplying electricity to the repulsors. The backup tried to take over, exploded in a shower of sparks thanks to unrepaired fire damage, and died. The repulsors shut down. Voyager, with the grace of a dead duck, started falling like one.

* * *

><p>Wrath<p>

"Sir, Voyager is free falling." the Kazon officer at Tactical informed Jal Jabin.

"Good, as soon as they..."

"Sir!" the Tactical officer yelled out. "The Caretakers array is moving."

"What?" Jabin asked. He had forgotten all about that damn machine.

"It's..." before the officer could finish his sentence the ship was engulfed in light.

Voyager

Engineering

Torres felt and heard the hit down in engineering. Seconds later, Voyager was falling.

"Impulse status!" shouted B'Elanna.

"Impulse propellant pumps are not responding," said Vorik.

"WARNING! UNRECOVERABLE FAILURE IN THE REPULSOR SYSTEM. TWO MINUTES TO IMPACT."

"We've got to get the warp drive online!" said Torres. "It's our only chance!"

"We've barely started the warming cycle!" Rodriguez replied. "We'll blow the ship apart!"

* * *

><p>The noise of the rushing air outside the hull was building. They were tilted ninety degrees backwards; if the artificial gravity failed, they'd all smash themselves on the far bulkhead. Just as suddenly as they were falling, they stopped on a dime as a tractor beam caught a hold of them and started to lift them off of Ocampa.<p>

Voyager floated in the sudden calm over the hothouse world. The alien space station sat, implacable, unperturbed as around it all of the Kazon vessels sat damaged or destroyed.

"What the hell is going on?" Rollins asked, his heart thumping. He just knew that they were supposed to be dead right now.

"We're being hailed by the Caretakers array, sir." Lt. Campbell reported, her hands nervously pushing the buttons on her console. "It's visual and audio."

"Put it on screen." Harry replied as he and Tom shared a look.

Doing as she was told, Roman Reigns smiling face appeared on the main viewer. "Sorry I'm late to the party sir." Roman started. "But at least, I was able to figure out this arrays weapons systems."

"Good." Harry replied letting out a breath, he didn't know he was holding. "Did Samantha figure out a way to get us home?"

"That's the thing, sir." Roman replied as he put his head down for a second in thought. "We can never use the array to get home."


	13. Chapter 12 The Long Way Home

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys and thanks to my newest reviewers MissAzuka and Chris Redfield-General Chaos. To MissAzuka, most of your questions will be answered in this chapter. Now to tell everyone about the nature of this story. I wanted to portray Harry as an imperfect Hero. In so many stories that I've read, including some of my own, the hero always knows exactly what to do to make things better and most times that's just not realistic, so I wanted to do something different. Tom reminds me a lot of myself, which is why I'm portraying him as a little goofy at times but someone with a lot to offer if you give him the chance. I'm glad everyone is liking this so far.

Chapter 12

The Long Way Home

_Captain's Log Stardate 48532.4 : We've spent nearly a month studying the Caretakers array and Ensign Samantha Wildman was right, there was no way we could use the Caretakers array to get back home. After beaming B'Elanna over to the array she was able to determine that the array either needed the genetic code of the alien that inhabited this station or a series of alien numerical codes that even our advanced computer system has no way of cracking because it couldn't find a basis for the alien language. Even if it could the language seemed so complex that B'Elanna theorized that it would take us over fifty years to crack it to send us home._

_It makes me sick to my stomach to know that so many people died on this voyage getting here and trying to get back home never knowing why we were sent here in the first place. They just... they just all died for nothing. I can't afford to think about that now. I have to move forward for the sake of my crew. I don't know if it was blind luck or if some deity was watching over us but when the Kazon's heavy shell went through our saucer section no one was killed. We had a few people that were severely injured but thankfully no one died mostly in part to the fact that we were running on a skeleton crew as it was and no one was in those departments. I'd never be able to forgive myself if someone had. It would just be another nail in the coffin of my soul, along with all of the other people who died under my command. Still because of that hull breach we used plating from the Caretakers array as a form of second hull or Delta proof armor as Tom likes to call it, on Voyager._

_Speaking of which, even though we couldn't figure out how to send ourselves home, we did manage to use the Array as a dry-dock. The Array reconfigured itself and took in the entire ship and managed to fix over eighty seven percent of the damage that was done to Voyager at a rapid rate, the rest of which will have to be fixed on the go since most of the elements over there were incompatible with our ship. I did however get the idea to make an Astrometrics lab, using elements from the array, of which Samantha will be in charge of. It'll take some time to piece together but we're off to a good start. It's strange that we could do so much yet so little with the array in regards to figuring out how it worked. We could fix our ship and make it better even, but at the end of the day we still couldn't send ourselves home. B'Elanna did however find a message on board of an old man, that we assume is the Caretaker. Our suspicions were confirmed as we found out he was indeed responsible for the destruction on the Ocampa home world. It seems that he felt guilt over what he had done and he stayed behind in our dimension to watch over what he called his children. He's been here for generations and piecing a few things together we believe that he might have been dying. Wait, maybe that's why he brought us here. Maybe he was looking for someone to replace him. But if that's true then I wonder why he didn't contact his mate that he mentioned in his logs, unless she might be dead too. _

_Either way Kes arranged a meeting with myself and the people of Ocampa that lived underground on the planet. Tom and I explained to them their situation and that the Caretaker left them enough power and water to live off of for only five years, so we're going to ferry them on Voyager and one of the Kazon vessels we managed to fix, to another planet out of their system so they can live in peace._

_I went to check on Lt. Stadi and she still seems to be sleeping peacefully in her coma. At times I almost envy her because she doesn't have to deal with the pain that the rest of us are going through._

_Some Ocampa and the slaves that we rescued from the Kazons have expressed a desire to stay with us, at least until we can find their people.I'll have to get a few officers together to train them in the ways of Starfleet and working on a Starship in general but at least they'll help replenish our numbers. We also took all of the navigational data and any information and some technology we could from the array before blowing it up with our tricobolt devices. I couldn't live with myself if we left it behind, as it would probably fall into the hands of the Kazon, shifting the balance of power in this sector._

_The crew is very _traumatized_ right now, and rightfully so, but for some reason most of them have a belief in me. A belief that I myself don't share at the moment, especially after all that's happened but I won't let them know that and I will try to the best of my ability to do what's right for my crew. I don't know if it's just me or not but I can see some of them giving me a long hard stare. A stare of distrust as if they don't have any confidence in me to lead, but either way I was the one who was put in charge. It's going to be a long way home, but even they at least are hopeful that we'll see Earth again._

Sickbay

Ensign Rodriguez sat up from a bio-bed with a moan and blood streaming from his nose. "She's not just out of control, she's out of her mind Commander."

"What did B'Elanna do?" Tom asked with a sigh. He knew that she could be a loose cannon sometimes but this...

"She hit me is what she did!" Rodriguez shouted excitedly as the Doctor hovered over him.

"Your nose is broken in three places." Doctor Zimmerman said as he scanned him with a tricorder. "I'll need to reset the ethmoid fossa. Try not to move."

"We were having an argument about the power grid." Rodriguez continued. "She wanted to realign the lateral plasma conduit. I told her that would cause an overload. As usual, she wouldn't listen. So I told her to step aside and let me handle it per Starfleet procedure. She pushed me away from the console. I told her not to do it again and I touched her arm to get her out of my way. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the deck with blood pouring down my face."

"Then what happened?" Paris asked, not believing that the situation got out of control so fast over nothing.

"She said, 'Sorry. Maybe you should go to Sickbay.'"

"At least she gave you some good advice." the Doctor cut in as he reached up to touch the other man's nose. "Now."

"Ow!" Rodriguez shouted.

"Hold still." Doctor Zimmerman said with no emotion from his patients agonizing cry.

"Don't worry, Ensign." Tom replied with a shake of his head. "I'll take care of this."

"You keep that crazy woman out of the engine room and everything will be fine! Ow!" Rodriguez shouted again as the Doctor went about resetting his nose.

* * *

><p>"Have you seen, B'Elanna?" Tom asked as he walked out of Sickbay and towards Harry, who was waiting for him. Giving him a PADD, he let out yet another sigh.<p>

"Computer where is Lt. B'Elanna Torres?" Harry replied as they started to walk together.

**Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres is on holodeck one.** The Computer's voice droned.

She knows that we have to conserve power. Harry thought to himself. Especially since the Array's power sources was virtually unusable and alien to us. "What exactly did she do?"

"She punched Ensign Rodriguez on the nose and broke it in three places." Tom answered. "They were arguing about a plasma conduit and B'Elanna pushed him and when he touched her arm she punched him. I've known B'Elanna for awhile and she can get violent but this is ridiculous."

As Tom started talking Harry bristled a little bit as his First Officer said that Rodriguez touched B'Elanna. He wasn't a counselor but he thought that he knew what her problem was. "I'll ummm, I'll go and talk to her. Just because she used to be in the Maquis doesn't give her the right to do this. She's a senior officer now and she has to set an example."

As Tom watched Harry walk off, he hoped that his little talk with the resident Klingon would pay off.

Holodeck One

As Captain Kim walked into the smoke filled holodeck, he coughed before he had a chance to look around the wooded area. His eyes finally adjusting to the haze, he caught a glimmer of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning he was just in time to step back as a bullet whizzed by his head.

Catching himself, as he nearly fell to the ground, he moved forward and into a clearing and stood mesmerized at seeing B'Elanna going to work. She was taking on three Kazon males, all carrying different styles of weapons, with a bat'leth and was making quick work of them. Harry watched as she duck, dodged and weaved before finally taking off the heads of all three of her holographic opponents.

Turning her head, as a cat does, she looked over at Harry with glazed over eyes. Before he could say anything, she picked up a burst of speed and aimed her bat'leth high.

"B'Elanna!" Harry managed to shout as she ran past him and let out an angry cry. Turning he was just in time to see a Kazon fall on it's back with the blade of B'Elanna's weapon embedded in it's chest. Looking down to B'Elanna, as she retrieved her weapon, she looked back to him, her eyes still slightly glazed and her chest rising faster by the second.

"What?" she asked as he stared at her incredulously.

* * *

><p>As Harry walked into his quarters, he immediately let out a sigh. He had just confined B'Elanna to her room and he didn't know how he felt about it. Not because of why but rather how she took it as if nothing mattered. Looking up he quickly felt that something was wrong. Ignoring his instincts, he took off his work boots and sat down on his bed. Happy that his shift was over, he started to shed his uniform before lying back on the bed for a quick nap.<p>

Starting to doze off, he suddenly felt a weight on his legs and something warm touching his bare chest. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was one of the slave girls that was rescued from the Kazon, named Isis. She was quite simply put beautiful. She had long red hair, striking blue eyes, and a body of a goddess. He couldn't help but notice that she looked human and as they started talking he found out that she was an El-Aurian.

She traveled around the galaxy for many years and had ended up in the Delta Quadrant some years ago. After years of trying to find herself, the ship she was on was attacked by the Kazon and she had been a sex slave ever since. That was until the Shield rescued her and the others. Not wanting to be left behind in the Delta Quadrant, she agreed to come along with them. And right now she had her head on Harry's chest giving it soft kisses.

"Isis!" Harry yelped as he sat up in bed nearly knocking her to the floor. "What are you... how did you get in my room?"

"You didn't have your door locked." she replied as she seductively licked her lips. "Besides... I didn't think you'd mind."

"Of course, I mind." Harry replied as he hurriedly got out of bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Whatever you want." Isis replied as she wrapped his sheets around her very naked body and gave him a look.

"I think... I think that you need to go." Harry said with a stutter.

"I thought that you wanted..."

"Isis when I told you and the other girls that you could join Voyagers crew that's all I wanted." Harry cut her off, figuring what the misunderstanding was. "You're not a slave anymore. You're a part of a crew... a family."

Not one really to get embarrassed, Isis' cheeks went bright red anyway. "I... I'm..."

"It's okay." Harry replied trying to smile. "This was a simple misunderstanding."

"Hmmm, a misunderstanding." Isis repeated. "Harry... Captain you're the first man I've been around in a long time that I've had a... misunderstanding with. Usually they'd have me in bed by now."

"Well ummm... I don't know what you're accustomed to but I'm not the type of guy that takes advantage of a woman."

"I like you." Isis said bluntly as she got off of the bed and gave Harry a hug. Caught like a deer in headlights, Harry just stood there stiff as a board. "I know that this is a bad time to ask." Isis started as she let him go. "But if you don't want me in... that capacity... then what do you want me to do on this ship?"

As she asked that, Harry nervously stroked his chin before considering what she might be good for. "You're a listener right?"

"That's what my species is known for." Isis replied with a smile that quickly turned into a frown. "Why?"

"Because this ship is in desperate need of a Counselor." Harry replied as he ran his hand through his hair. "If you decide to accept my offer, we'll have to put you through Starfleet train..."

"Believe it or not but I was in Starfleet." Isis said, cutting him off. "It might have been eighty years ago, but I still remember a thing or two."

Eighty yea... Harry cut off his own inner dialogue as he thought about the long life-spans of El-Aurians. "So you're going to accept my offer?"

"I want to get back to the Alpha Quadrant." Isis replied with a shrug. "And it's not like I have anything else to do."

"Good. Get with me tomorrow and I'll make sure you get brushed up on current Starfleet protocol."

"Aye Captain." Isis replied with a mock salute as she started to walk off, teasingly dropping the sheets before picking her clothes off the floor and putting them on.

With a roll of his eyes, Harry was about to turn and go to bed until he thought about something. "Wait?"

"Did you change your mind?" Isis asked as she turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Harry replied with another roll of his eyes. "I wanted to ask you a question. Why is it that you're taking what... the Kazon did to you so... so lightly?"

"Believe me Harry in my long life I've seen man do far worse." Isis replied as she gave him a sad smile. "Tomorrow as my first official duty as counselor, I'll talk to all the girls who were captured by the Kazon." she offered, freeing him from having to ask that question. "Good night, Captain." she said before walking out of the room.

Picking his sheets off of the floor, Harry laid down and after a few moments he drifted off to sleep. A sleep that wouldn't hold him for long. Jumping out of bed, he grabbed the PADD, Tom gave him earlier and headed out the door.

Torres' Quarters

B'Elanna paced angrily like a caged tiger. The doorbell suddenly rang and without hesitation she threw a bowl at it, just as the door opened and the bowl barely missed Harry's head.

"Hey!" Harry shouted with wide eyes.

"Argh!" B'Elanna growled back angrily, until the haze that clouded her mind disappeared. "Oh it's just you."

Eyes still wide and heart pounding, Harry moved around the broken bowl and handed her a PADD. "Here."

"What's this?" she asked in annoyance as she took it and started to read it's contents.

"The medical report on Ensign Rodriguez." Harry answered before she could read the first line.

Anger returning B'Elanna snapped. "Ensign Rodriguez is an idiot! When I tell you what happened..."

"I know what happened." Harry cut her off softly. "But before we get into that, you might be interested to know that the impact fractures along his cranium were pretty severe. If you'd hit him just a little harder, you could have driven some of those bones into his cerebellum."

Arms folding over her chest, B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "I didn't even come close to hitting him that hard."

"Yes you did." said Harry as he made her look up at him. "And I know why you did it. It's because he touched you."

"Harry..." B'Elanna started warningly.

"Please just let me finish." he went on. "B'Elanna, I'm not going to lie and say that I know how you feel about what the... Kazon did to you. But what I can say is that I need you and that every person on this ship owes their lives to you. You're worth... you're worth your weight in gold to me and... and you're a senior officer now. You have to set an example for the rest of the crew and hate it or not you're going to need support from people like Rodriguez."

"I don't need support from anybody." B'Elanna said in a huff as she turned her back to him.

"Not even me?" he asked as he put a hand on her shoulder. Noticing that she didn't flinch away from his touch, he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "B'Elanna you're more then just my Chief Engineer. I consider you to be a friend and even though you're in a dark place right now, I'm still here for you when you want to talk."

"I don't need to talk to anybody either." she replied still with her back to him.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I need someone to talk to?" Harry asked as he dropped his hand. "When we were brought here by the Caretaker, I had to watch as Captain Janeway took her last breath. I also had to watch as everyone around me died..."

"Why are you telling me this stuff?" B'Elanna asked as she whirled around on him.

"Because I wanted you to know that I'm in a dark place right now myself." he answered honestly, his survivors guilt being made apparent. "And I need someone to help me through it. And if you let me, I'll do the same for you."

Taken off guard by his offer all B'Elanna could do was blink. Wanting to give her time to process his offer, Harry turned to leave and walked towards the door.

"So how long do I have to stay in here?" she spoke up.

"Rest of the trip." Harry replied with a small smile as he stopped in his tracks to turn to look at her. "Seventy five years."

"I don't find your twisted sense of humor very funny, Starfleet." B'Elanna replied even though she smiled herself.

"Fine... you can leave as soon as you apologize to Rodriguez. We leave this part of space tomorrow and I hope to see you in Engineering by then." Harry said as he swiftly walked out of the room before she could say anything. With a roll of her eyes, B'Elanna sat down heavily on her bed. Today really was going to be a long one.

Later that day

B'Elanna stalked down the corridors of the deck 8, having just apologized to Ensign Rodriguez. To her surprise he took the apology better then she expected and the two were able to bury the hatchet, with the agreement that she wouldn't try to hurt him again. As she turned a corner she suddenly bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry." B'Elanna blurted out as she registered who it was. "Isis right?"

"Yeah." Isis replied with a smile. "I'm actually glad I bumped into you."

"Oh?" B'Elanna started as she took what the other woman was wearing into account. It was a skin tight blue outfit that clung to her like a second skin. "Why is that?"

"I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow that I'm going to be sworn in as the ships new counselor." the brunette replied with a smile. "The Captain wanted me to tell the senior staff. This is the outfit I decided to wear. What do you think?"

Are you trying to be the ships new counselor or a companion? B'Elanna thought to herself. "Well I'm sure that everyone is going to like it." B'Elanna decided to say to be diplomatic.

"I'm glad you think so." Isis said with a deepening smile as she put an arm around B'Elanna's shoulder as they started to walk. "Torres, I'm sure that we're going to be good friends."

"Oh, I'm more then sure of that." B'Elanna mumbled sarcastically. Yeah it really was going to be a long day. As she thought that another thought popped into her head. It was what Harry said to her earlier about her worth... a woman's worth.

The Bridge

"I finally got the warp core up and running." B'Elanna said as she handed Harry a progress report. "And most of the major problems that were wrong on this boat are fixed too. We still have a long way to go but we'll be ready to get underway whenever you say so."

"Good." Harry replied with a smile. As she turned to leave, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, making her look to him again. "Thank you."

With a smile of her own and a nod of her head, she walked onto the turbolift just as Neelix and Kes got off of it.

"Oh, Captain, we needed to talk to you." Neelix said as he ran over to the command station.

"Neelix you're still here?" Tom asked as he walked over to Helm. "I thought you two love birds would be long gone by now?"

"We just loaded your ship with water and food Neelix." Harry replied as he shook the aliens spotted hand. "You two are ready to ride off into the sunset... unless you're planning on going to a new planet with your people?" he asked as he looked to Kes.

"Actually we were thinking about staying with you... on Voyager." Kes replied.

"After... after all that's happened you two want to come with us?" Harry asked in shock.

"You're new here." Neelix replied putting on his mask of being a salesman. "Don't you think you're going to need a guide through the Delta Quadrant?"

"Well, I..."

"Of course you will." Neelix cut him off. "You need supplies? I know where to procure them. I have friends among races you don't even know exist. And if you think the Kazon were bad guess again. They were merely... the tip of a Talaxian iceberg."

"I... I see." Harry replied as he started to blink. How could things get much more worse then the Kazon? "The quarters you had earlier are yours. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Captain you won't regret this." Neelix replied happily as he grabbed Kes' hand and drug her off the bridge.

With a smile, Harry tapped at his combadge, with a message for the entire crew."We're alone in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We have already made some friends here, and some enemies. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face, but one thing is clear. You've all put your faith in me." as he said that he saw Captain Janeway in the corner of his eyes. "I know that everyone's nerves are frayed partly because of my decisions but that faith you put in me won't be misplaced. A lot of people have.. died on this journey but their sacrifice will not be in vain. As you all know we had no choice but to destroy the Caretaker's array and at maximum speeds it will take us seventy five years to get home, but I'm not settling for that amount of time. We're going to look for spatial rifts, new technology, wormholes, or even that other Caretaker that was spoken about. Believe me we will get back home and we will do it as one crew. A Starfleet crew." closing the com-channel and sitting down in his chair, Harry blew out a breath and looked ahead at Tom who was sitting at Helm while Ahni and Commander Rollins were on the Kazon vessel. "Tom, set a course two mark four one three."

"Aye, Captain." Tom said as his hands danced along the console. "Course entered."

"Then by all means... please get us out of here."

As Voyager and the Kazon vessel kicked into warp, Harry was happy to get out of this Godforsaken sector of space and the floating debris of what was left of the Caretakers array. It was time to go home.

Deep In Kazon Territory

First Maje Jal Cullah smiled to himself as he reread the report that Jal Jabin and First Maje Razik had been killed. Even though it had been nearly a month ago, he knew how to manipulate people and even now Jabin and Razik's men were joining his Collective. His smile waned a little as he read about the destruction of the Caretakers array but at least now his enemies were taken care of and now he could fully take over as the new leader of the Kazon Collective.

This Voyager he read about troubled him though. After what these Federations had done to the Caretaker's array, Razik, and Jabin, he'd dare not engage them now. But then he thought about all of the technology that was on board that ship and his smile came back into full affect. Maybe sometime soon he would pay this Captain Kim a visit.

A/N I'm using the Caretaker like that dry dock in the Star Trek Enterprise episode Dead Stop, if anyone reading this has seen the series. Basically the NX Enterprise was severely damaged and almost to the point where it was going to be left adrift until they ran into a space station that fixed their ship in no time. It didn't take them a whole month to fix their ship but I wanted things to be a little more drastic in this case. I'm using the Caretaker's array like that to my advantage because no one knows anything about it so I thought it would be cool to add another layer of mystery around it as to what it could actually do. I mean heck if it could bring a ship across the galaxy is it unreasonable to believe for it to be able to fix Voyager in a month?


	14. Chapter 13 The Eater of Worlds pt1

Disclaimer: I don't own the names Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, or Luke Harper. The WWE does and I'm just borrowing them.

A/N Thanks for the reviews. Now to answer your questions Miss Azura. You can basically consider Voyager as being upgraded to 1.1 since they were able to put a second layer of the hull, making an Astrometrics lab, and yes they also used the Array to make torpedoes, etc... Like I said some systems Voyager could access from the Array and others they couldn't, the self destruct being a prime example. That's why they had to use the tricobalt devices. I can't say much about anything else, you'll just have to wait a little and see.

Also Chris Redfield-General Chaos if you're reading this, I sent you a pm, so check that out.

Chapter 13

The Eater of Worlds pt. 1

The sky seemed to dance and swirl with a pink sky and dark clouds, as a man with devilish allure sat on his knees smiling. He was kind of heavy set and had a long brown beard. But the thing that made anyone notice him were his eyes. Green eyes that seemed to look deep into someone's soul. As a shadow cascaded over him, he rustled in his chains a little, but he still had a sadistic smile on his face when an old man with a long white beard wearing ceremonial robes stepped up in front of him.

"Bray Wyatt you are sentenced to be isolated on this planet for all eternity." the old man started as some others walked up behind him. He had spent most of his life trying to kill this being but nothing worked. The only thing that was left was for him to be cast into the void.

"Now why is that?" Bray asked in a deep yet whimsical voice. "Is it because I wanted to spread truth to this tiny part of the galaxy?"

"It's because of the thousands of Balarians and other beings you slaughtered... monster!" one of the other men shouted in anger as he tried to move past his elder, only for the other man to hold him back with his hand.

"Father Gorgus, enough." Elder Jarvas said, not letting his gaze leave Bray's youthful face. "You devil. My great-grandfathers spent so much of their lives searching for you and now they're all dead. That's why I took up their cause and I've searched for you all around the galaxy and I'm now left to be an old man with no family. Even still my only regret is that my grandfathers didn't live long enough to see that I've finally put you in chains for all the murders and wars men have fought in your name. You've committed so many heinous acts but I am still compelled to show you one last mercy. I'll let you speak to the victims of all the people who died in your name." Jarvas said as he looked down the hill they were on and gestured to the large crowd that were at the bottom of it. As they started to walk towards them, Elder Jarvas looked back to Bray. "Tell them the last of what you have to say monster, before you are cast into this bottomless pit."

"Brothers, sisters...the revolution is not an apple that falls when it's ripe. You have to make it fall." Bray started as the crowd gathered around him. "The Elders say things like Bray Wyatt is brainwashing folks. Well you got me on that one father." Bray smiled as he looked from Father Gorgus to Elder Jarvas. "I am brainwashing you. I'm washing your brains right now. I'm washing away all the garbage that they want you to believe in and forcing you to believe in what you want. I'm washing away all the filth that's been poisoning your minds since the day you were born. They also say things like, Bray Wyatt is a psycho, he's a lunatic, he's crazy and you shouldn't follow him. Well I know another man from the other side of the universe of whom his people called crazy. He was a young carpenter and you wouldn't believe what he did for his people. Well I'm not that man and I'm nowhere near him. In fact, I'm not a man at all. I'm a monster. A monster that fights against the machine and it's authoritarianism. You all should be able to think for yourselves and not follow blindly behind what these people teach you. We are one world, one people. THEY can't medicate US all. Especially not for the war that'll come not too soon after while."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Father Gorgus demanded hotly.

"Patience..." Bray replied as he started to breath in deeply. "When I decide its time, believe me there'll be none of you left. All they'll be is just rotted flesh and bone."

"It's time." Elder Jarvas said as he nodded to two tall bearded monks wearing robes.

As Father Luke and Father Erick came forward and started to drag Bray to the opening of the pit, Bray just smiled and started to recite something he had read long ago, "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream."

Before he could be tossed into the sickly blackness of the pit, Bray broke from his chains and grabbed onto Luke and Erick. His strength being his own undoing, Bray made all three of them topple over and fall with screams into the dark void.

The crowd moved forward with a cry, but Elder Jarvas silenced them with a mere hand gesture. "Amen." he mumbled mostly to himself, as he held his head down in grief at the loss of his church brethren.

"What do we do now, Elder?" Gorgus asked as he too looked down in sadness.

"We never forget this day." Jarvas replied as he looked up at him and started to address the crowd. "We will let the galaxy know what happened on this planet today and about our fallen brothers. The legacy of Bray Wyatt has ended here today but we must always tell the story of that monster and make sure that no one ever comes to this planet."

As he said that he looked up at the heavens and saw that the pink sky and darkness disappeared, giving way to a bright blue sky. Smiling, he heard birds chirping in the distance. Taking this as a good omen he looked at his people and nodded his head. "Let us leave this planet and never return. Bray Wyatt's tyranny has finally ended."

300 Years Later

Voyager

Astrometrics Lab

Ensign Samantha Wildman definitely didn't sign up for this when she joined Starfleet. It was especially frightening to be assigned a position from someone she still considered an Ensign and someone she didn't fully trust yet. She was grateful for the promotion to be head over the science division but she really didn't want to do it in the Delta Quadrant. Rubbing at her stomach, she frowned because they were so far away from home. And here she was trying to help another race find a new one, in a half completed Astrometrics slightly, Lt. Campbell looked up from where she was working on an opened console, to see what was going on.

"What's so funny?" Lyssa asked, wanting to be let in on the joke.

"Oh... nothing." Samantha muttered, in embarrassment. "This place is really coming along isn't it?"

"Yeah." Lyssa replied with a raised eyebrow. "In another couple of weeks she'll be all done." Truth be told, Voyager already had an Astrometrics lab but it needed to be upgraded since they were now in the Delta Quadrant. In her minds eye she could see the finished project. The lab contained a large wraparound holographic wall screen which could display a stellar region three dimensionally. There were a series of control panels to manipulate the screen and an area below the screen and in front of the control panels that could be used as a stage during presentations. Astrometrics would also include three workstations on the side wall, one of which she was currently working on. Coming back to the present, she went back to work, but decided to make some idle conversation. "So how have you and your baby been doing?"

"What... how did you..."

"I'm a woman." Lyssa replied with a smile. "Plus this is a small ship and people talk."

Before Sam could reply an alert sounded. Standing to her feet, she looked down at the console and put the information on the big screen. It was a nice big blue beautiful planet and after gathering it's information and seeing that the planet hadn't been colonized or had a history of bad weather, she knew it was the one.

"What did you find?" Lt. Campbell asked over her shoulder.

"Hopefully a new home for the Ocampa." Sam replied with a smile as she tapped at her combadge. "Captain, you're needed to Astrometrics. There's something you need to see."

* * *

><p><em>Captain's log, Stardate 48546.2: To preserve their race and culture, we've successfully relocated the Ocampan people to an uninhabited M class planet. Before we beamed back to the ship Kelor and Bree of their people have also decided to stay on board with us to join our crew. After landing the Kazon vessel on the planet, we left the Ocampa a few making sure they're comfortable on the planet and taking a few things we might need ourselves, we're going to maintain course back to the Alpha Quadrant.<em>

Briefing Room

"Engine efficiency's down another fourteen percent." B'Elanna reported as she handed Harry a PADD. "If we don't get more power to the warp drive, we're all going to have to get out and push."

"What about alternative energy sources?" Harry asked as he studied the information on the PADD, he was given, not liking the numbers. "I know we couldn't use much as far as power resources from the Array but there has to be something else we can do. Lt. Campbell, have you had any luck getting power from the holodeck reactors?"

"Not yet, sir." Campbell started with a sigh. "We tried hooking them to the power grid and we ended up blowing out half the relays. The holodeck's energy matrix, it just isn't compatible with the other power systems."

"Captain, if we relocate all security personnel to deck seven, we can shut down power on deck nine and reroute it to propulsion." Tom spoke up.

You little son of a bitch. Commander Rollins thought to himself. "That's going to be inconvenient, but I can work around that."

"Good, now let's move on to the personnel situation. We still have..." Harry trailed off as Neelix, Kes, Bree, and Kelor walked into the room.

"Sorry we're late, but I wasn't informed there was a meeting this morning." Neelix started as he looked around the room. "Oh, there don't seem to be enough chairs."

"Neelix, this is a briefing for the senior officers." Rollins replied in annoyance.

"I see." Neelix replied as he stroked his chin. "Well, I, I am the senior Talaxian on board. Kes, Kelor, and Bree are the senior Ocampa. And I do know more about this region of space than any other member of the crew."

"We think... no we know that we can be of assistance to you all." Kelor spoke up. He was a wiry and tall man with short cropped brown hair.

"We have some excellent suggestions, Captain." Kes added.

"Okay." Harry said, knowing full well that they needed as many suggestions as they could get. "You're welcome to join us."

Seeing the beautiful blond coming towards him, Commander Paris stood up and gave up his seat to Kes. "Here you are."

"Thank you, Commander." Kes replied, making Neelix's eye twitch.

"To be honest, we could use some suggestions right now." Harry went on as he stood up and did the same for Bree.

"I've been thinking that you might be able to convert one of your lower decks into a hydroponics bay to grow your own food." Kes said as she looked around the room, before settling her gaze on Harry. "I understand that the replicators are down and that the emergency rations won't hold out much longer."

"What about Cargo Bay two?" Lt. Campbell asked. "It was designed for organic storage and it already has adjustable environmental controls."

"When can you two start?" Harry asked as he looked between both women.

"Me?" Kes asked with wide eyes.

"It's your idea. So it's your project, Kes."

"I'll start on it right away." the blond Ocampa woman replied, happy that she could help.

"Good, Lyssa I'd like for you to help her and show her what she needs to do."

"Yes sir." Lt. Campbell said as she brought up her padd, making a list of things that she would need.

"I can do..."

"I'd like to be your ships cook, Captain." Bree said as she cut Neelix off. "On Ocampa, whenever I found a small animal and what little plant life that was left I would cook for my family and they told me that my food tasted good. For letting me travel with you, I'd like to do the same for all of you."

"That's a good idea." Harry replied with a nod of his head. "I'll see about making some room for you to work."

"That only leaves one thing." Rollins spoke up, before Neelix could speak. "The EMH. It can only operate within the confines of Sickbay."

"Not to mention its lousy bedside manner." Tom quipped.

"Maybe we should assign somebody to train with the hologram as a field medic." Ahni suggested.

"Then, I believe I can be of help Captain." Kelor spoke up. "I must admit that I don't know much about your species physiology but I was an accomplished doctor."

"Report to Sickbay as soon as we're finished here." Harry replied as he looked around the room. Before Neelix could say something again, Kim continued. "If we have no further business... dismissed."

As everyone started to leave the room, Neelix closed his mouth, lowered his head and walked out with the rest of them.

"I didn't want to say this in front of the crew because I was afraid you'd say no but I think that we should take shore leave on new Ocampa." Tom suggested as Harry went and got a cup of coffee. To Tom's surprise, Harry smiled and gave him the order to tell the others.

New Ocampa

The sun gently shone on Harry Kim's face as he laid down on the beach and tried to rest. Voyager had finally found an uninhabited M class planet for the Ocampa and to say that it was paradise was an understatement. Puffy clouds, warm weather, and some of the most beautiful beaches he'd ever seen. It bothered him a little however that no one, not even the Kazon, had colonized this place.

It's too fucking beautiful for them anyway. He thought bitterly to himself.

When he had dropped the Ocampa off and given them some supplies for them to live off of, he was about to order the ship to leave until Tom convinced him that the crew could use a little R&R so he put the whole ship on shore leave. Needless to say he was glad his First Officer did because something in the pit of his stomach told him that this would be the last time in awhile that they would be in a place so peaceful.

Opening his eyes for a moment, he took it all in that this was a virtual contrast to the hostility and hatred they encountered since violently being dragged to the Delta Quadrant. Looking around, he smiled at his fellow crew members as they ran around and splashed in the warm water. His smile almost cracked his face however as he saw Commander Rollins actually looking like he was enjoying himself as he was teaching Lt. Campbell and some Ocampa how to play volleyball.

He just wished that B'Elanna was here with him. He had finally taken Tom's advice and asked her out on a picnic, but she had told him that she was busy in Engineering. But how could he have read her so wrong? Especially after she'd tilt her head that certain way and stare into his eyes. Just that simple thing set his soul on fire and all he could do was stare back into her eyes. With a sigh, he decided that maybe how he felt was just that. Just the way he felt and she was just being friendly with him.

Besides she calls me Starfleet all the time. Harry thought to himself. Maybe she just thinks of me like a brother or something. Or maybe she's trying to deal with what the Kazon did to her. He was glad that Isis came along and started doing sessions with the crew...B'Elanna, Kes, and the other girls from Ocampa a few weeks ago. Ensign Jetal even started to hold martial arts classes for the women and finally B'Elanna had a little support group and had a proper way to vent. Closing his eyes again, he got comfortable and decided to just enjoy himself.

Basking in the sun for a few minutes, he suddenly felt someone standing over him, blocking his sun. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was his aforementioned Counselor Isis.

"Isis." Harry greeted, trying not to make his voice squeak as he spoke. God that woman was beautiful and she knew what she was doing with that red two piece bathing suit. She was still no B'Elanna though.

"Captain." Isis greeted back with a husky voice. "Sorry if I'm blocking your sun. You mind if I sit with you?"

"Hey, it's... it's a free country." he stuttered only making her smile.

Sitting down a orange and white beach blanket, Isis laid down next to him. Startled, his eyes almost popped out of his sockets as she laid her head on his bare chest. He was going to ask her to stop, but then his best friends voice popped into his head. You don't want to go this whole journey alone. Closing his eyes he just embraced her touch and relaxed.

Voyager

Engineering

B'Elanna decided that the next time Harry wanted to spend a little time with her that she was going to say okay. She was sure that Harry wanted to be more then just friends but when he had asked her to join him on New Ocampa, Counselor Isis was clinging all on him.

After seeing the other woman touching him, B'Elanna instantly felt…jealousy. To say that she was shocked by how she felt was an understatement. There wasn't anything romantically going on between her and Harry but she had to admit that something broke inside of her seeing him and that other woman together and just that fact alone made her angry.

But then she remembered why it made her so angry. She had always hated human women because of their long silky hair and appealing smooth foreheads. And here one was, at least someone that looked human, trying to take away what was hers. Since when did I start thinking of Harry as mine? She thought to herself. Sure he had been there for her after what had happened to her when she was with the Kazon but so was Tom. But in the end it was what Harry said to her that had won out and touched her soul. He had given her hope, even if that hope was in the form of revenge.

Is that why, I like him? B'Elanna asked herself. Is it because of some kind of hero worship? And how the hell am I supposed to compete with someone that looks like Isis anyway? He probably just thinks of me as a friend. Just another part of the crew that he has to protect. B'Elanna didn't know how to feel about her new found feelings about Harry and about being more than just his friend. He was Starfleet through and through and in her mind maybe even as much as an enemy as the Cardassians. But I'm not Maquis anymore and he saved me from a dark place. In just a few weeks they had bonded more so then anyone she had ever met, with the exception of maybe Chakotay. The only main difference was that Harry had somehow found a way into her heart.

Pushing down her feelings and shaking her head, she got back to her computer diagnostic. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't notice someone coming up behind her, until they put a hand on her shoulder making her jump. Startled she rolled her eyes at who it was.

"Oh it's just you Tom." she said as she looked down to see that he was in his red swim trunks. "If you want to keep that arm, I'd suggest that you stop sneaking up on people. Especially me."

"What are you still doing up here?" Tom asked, ignoring what she had to say. "Why aren't you down on the surface with Harry?"

"Why is that any of your business?" B'Elanna countered angrily.

"Because, I'd like to see my best friend happy." Tom replied seriously. "And to be honest with you B'Elanna, you're the one that can make him happy."

"Has he... has Harry talked to you about me?" B'Elanna asked nervously.

"Why don't you go down to the beach and ask him yourself." Tom replied with a sly grin.

Not saying anything B'Elanna pondered about what to do before she walked out of the room.

New Ocampa

The sand felt warm and so... so good underneath Isis' bare feet. Digging her toes in a little deeper into the beige sand, she moved over on her back and looked up to the heavens. There was a sweet yet gentle breeze blowing and it blew through her hair making it tickle her cheeks. Closing her eyes she heard the waves of the ocean crashing a few feet from her and for a brief moment, it made her remember the beaches her father used to take her to when she was a little girl on El-Auria. Such peaceful memories... that was until the Borg came.

Shaking that thought out of her head, she looked around New Ocampa and smiled at it's crew members. They had been allowed to beam down in droves to enjoy shore leave and damn it they deserved it.

She was going to go for a swim but for now she was enjoying the warm beach with Captain Kim, who was lying on his back, arms behind his head, looking up at the sky himself, lost in thought. Maybe it's time to have a little fun and change his thoughts a little bit. Isis thought to herself. Or at least change his thoughts to a certain someone. A girl has to have some fun if she's going to have to deal with the emotional needs of the crew.

"It feels good to lay out here in the open." Harry suddenly said, making her look over at him. She smiled a little at how bronzed his skin was getting after laying in the sun. "Sometimes I wonder if we should just stay here."

"Well, don't get too comfortable buddy." Isis replied with a fake frown. "You promised me a ride back to the Alpha Quadrant and I can't do that by myself."

"It was just a passing thought." Harry said with a grin as he stared over at her.

"I know how you feel. This is a beautiful planet that we're leaving the Ocampa on." she replied as she looked back up at the sky. "I just wish that B'Elanna could have taken you up on your offer and joined us down here. If anybody on board needs to relax it's her."

Harry let out a sigh. "She's been acting kind of weird. Whenever I ask her to come and join me and you for lunch, she instantly refuses and sits with Tom or Kes. But, whenever I ask her to join me when I'm alone, she usually does. I really like B'Elanna and I wish..."

"You wish what?"

"Nothing." Harry said, not knowing why he felt so comfortable talking to Isis about his feelings.

"Harry why don't you just tell her you like her and get it over with?"

"What?" he asked with wide eyes.

"If it'll make it easier I think that she has feelings for you to." she went on as his cheeks turned a bright red. He could be so naive but she couldn't expect much out of him because he was so young. Seeing that she had him on the ropes she kept prodding. "It's obvious to anybody with eyes that she likes you. I mean think about it Harry. When we're in the mess hall she doesn't like sitting with us, but she'll gladly sit with you. Just by her doing that it instantly screams crush."

"But I tried to take her out on a picnic." he said sitting up. "And she turned me down."

"Maybe..." before she could finish her statement a crash of thunder startled both of them as the sky suddenly turned pink. As long as Isis lived she'd never seen a thunder storm come out of nowhere and move so quickly in just a moments notice. As lightning lit the sky with a crimson bolt; the rain began to pour from the sky in sheets as the wind picked up fiercely.

"It looks like shore leave is over." Harry commented as he looked around through the heavy rain and saw his crew running around. As he stood up and reached for his communicator another gust of wind whipped past him and nearly picked him up. Holding onto him, Isis grabbed his communicator for him.

"Isis to Voyager, start beaming the crew up!" she yelled over the sound of the wind. Hearing a muffled reply, she looked around and saw that the crew started to dematerialize.

Transporter Room One

Being a part of the last group to be beamed up, Harry looked up and saw that B'Elanna was behind the Transporter controls.

"I'm soaking wet." Isis said as Harry looked back to her, even as the rest of the crew, that was beamed up with them, started to pile out of the room. "I'm going to get changed. I'll see you later."

"Okay." Harry called over his shoulder as he turned back to B'Elanna. "Are all of the crew on board?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry that you were part of the last batch to be beamed aboard but it took me awhile to localize your signature."

"It's okay, just as long as we got beamed up." he replied as he turned to leave.

"So..." B'Elanna spoke up before he could leave. "How was the beach... I mean before it started to rain?"

Harry stopped in his tracks. "Why do you care? You didn't want to come with me remember?" as he asked that, he looked down to the beige two piece swim suit that she was wearing. "If you didn't want to go with me you could have just said so. You didn't have to go down to the planet like it was a secret."

"For your information, I was coming down to the planet to see you." B'Elanna snapped. "Besides, you were all too happy to go with your girlfriend Isis."

"Everyone seems to think that because Isis and I became fast friends that we're a couple"

"Are you telling me that you're not?"

"No!"

Closing her eyes B'Elanna felt foolish. She had let the rumors that were spreading around the ship get the better of her. And just like the others she had assumed that how Isis and Harry acted around each other was more then friendship, especially after the rumor got out that the other woman was seen leaving the Captain's quarters about a week ago.

"Well that's the rumor going on around the ship." B'Elanna pressed on "And you mean to tell me that there's nothing romantic going on between you two?"

"You shouldn't believe everything that you hear." Harry replied. " And trust me, there is nothing going on between Isis and I."

"Why?" B'Elanna wanted to know. "I mean Isis is beautiful and..."

"To tell you the truth B'Elanna... I... I have feelings for someone else." As he said that to her, he looked deeply into her dark eyes and he knew what he saw in them was reflecting in his own. It was a strange sense of desire and... and uncertainty. But one thing was clear. He had to touch her lips with his and now. As he leaned over to kiss her, B'Elanna suddenly looked past him and her eyes widened.

"Who are you?" she asked as Harry turned around to see who she was speaking to. As he did, he saw a little human boy, soaking wet and wearing no more then short pants shivering on the Transporter pad. He looked to be around five years old and had brown hair and some intense green eyes.

"My name is Bray." the little boy answered. "Bray Wyatt."

A/N Don't try to make literal sense for the name of this chapter. Bray doesn't actually eat worlds rather he manipulates others to his method of thinking thus destroying what they believe to be true so they can follow him. I hope that makes sense.


	15. Chapter 14 The Eater of Worlds pt 2

A/N Thanks everyone for those reviews. To MissAzuka if it seems like I'm quickly putting Harry and B'Elanna together it's because I am. You see this story actually isn't meant to be that long so I'm cramming some things together to get the story along. But after all of these reviews, I'm reconsidering continuing the story from where I was going to end it. In regards to them acting childish, to me they still are children to a certain degree. Not only because they're in their early twenties but being Captain, isn't going to take away how naive Harry is or how gossip prone B'Elanna is or how she chose to romanticize things from time to time like she did on the show. Thanks for continuing to review Guest, I'm actually thinking of revising several chapters to add more people, which is why I'd like to start a voting contest. Would you like someone from the original Voyager crew added or someone from The Next Generation added? I won't say who they are but I just wanted to know which one would you reviewers rather see? Don't worry, I'm going to make it realistic on how they are brought in as not to damage the story I've created so far. Also thank you Doc Yewll, I see you have a flare for poetry.

Chapter 14

The Eater of Worlds pt. 2

"Come on little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." Harry said to the frightened little boy as he got on the Transporter pad and tried to take his hand. Looking over at B'Elanna, Bray jumped off the pad and ran into her arms instead.

Holding him, B'Elanna looked up at Harry not knowing what to do. She wasn't exactly an expert with kids. "Where did you come from... Bray?" she asked. To her knowledge no one on the crew had any children with them on the ship and he didn't look like he came from Ocampa with the others.

"Some... some bad people took me away from my planet and from my parents." Bray answered, his little eyes starting to water. "When they brought me here, they beat me and killed my big sister Abigail."

"I'm... I'm so sorry to hear that." Harry said sympathetically. "Do you... do you have any other family or do you know what planet you came from so we can drop you off?" Not saying anything, Bray shook his head before burying his face into B'Elanna's side. Seeing that he wasn't going to let go, Harry let out a sigh. "B'Elanna will you take him to see the Doc? When you're done report to the ready room."

"Okay." B'Elanna said as she looked down at her little companion. "Come on Bray."

As the little boy took her hand, Harry watched as Bray and B'Elanna walked out of the room together.

Doctor Zimmerman's office

As Kes walked into Sickbay, she looked around confused for a second until she remembered she had to call upon the holographic doctor. "Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Holographic system."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Doctor Zimmerman greeted as he shimmered into existence.

"Actually, there is no emergency." Kes informed him with a friendly smile. "I'm creating a hydroponics bay. I was told you could provide me with some nitrogenated soil samples."

"That's it?" The Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry if..."

"So it begins." Zimmerman cut her off in a huff. "The trivia of medicine is my domain now. Every runny nose, stubbed toe, pimple on a cheek becomes my responsibility."

"You are the only doctor we have." Kes reasoned.

"I am not just a doctor." he complained. "I've been designed with the information from two thousand medical reference sources and the experience of forty seven individual medical officers. I am the embodiment of modern medicine. At least the Captain realized that I needed help and he sent me Kelor... just... how much dirt do you need?" he asked with a sigh.

"Four samples will be enough." Kes answered as the hologram turned around and went into his sample cabinet.

"Now I know how Hippocrates felt when the king needed him to trim a hangnail." the Doctor commented dryly as he started to hand her the samples she asked for.

"You're very sensitive, aren't you?"

"As a medical practitioner, I require a certain sensitivity to properly address a patient." he answered misinterpreting what she meant.

"I'm talking about you as a person."

"I am merely a hologram." he replied, giving her a look.

"I'm sorry I bothered you with this." Kes told him as if it didn't make a difference.

"No trouble at all." the Doctor replied, flattered that someone was being so polite to him. "Just turn off my program before you leave."

"What's your name?" she suddenly asked as she headed towards the door.

"I...I was given the last name Zimmerman, after the man that created my program, but not by choice." the Doctor told her. "I assume the crew didn't want to refer to me as just the Doctor all the time."

"Well you should be able to name yourself but if it means anything Zimmerman suits you."

"What's your name?"

"Kes."

"Kes. I'm glad I could help you today." the Doctor replied with the first genuine smile he had ever given.

"Computer, end..." before she could give the order to deactivate the Doctor, Bray and B'Elanna walked into the room. "Oh what a handsome young man." Kes said as she stared down at the little boy. "I didn't know that anyone on the crew had a child here. What's your name?"

"My name is Bray Wyatt." Bray replied as he stared deep into Kes' eyes. "You're such a curious creature. Your journey is so long but you won't live to see it."

Instantly becoming un-nerved by what he had said, Kes swallowed the sudden lump that formed in her throat, gave him a friendly smile and walked out of the room.

"I wasn't informed that any of the crew had their children on board either." the Doctor replied unperturbed, but seemingly irritated. "What can I do for you today Miss Torres?"

"Bray was unintentionally beamed aboard the ship." B'Elanna answered. "He was taken away from his family and he's here alone. Harry wanted you to give him a complete physical to see how he's doing."

"All right." the Doctor replied as he patted an empty bio-bed. "Hop up here young man."

"What are you?" Bray asked as B'Elanna picked him up and helped him get up on the bio-bed.

"I'm a hologram." the Doctor replied as his brow furrowed. "How did you know that I wasn't alive?"

"I assumed as much because you're not breathing and I don't believe your heart is beating." the boy answered. "I can't sense any life from you at all and it's like you're not here."

"Such a smart little boy." the Doctor replied with a raised eyebrow as he picked up his tricorder and began his scans. Even B'Elanna looked impressed because she hadn't told Bray that the Doctor was a hologram. Stroking his forehead with her thumb, he suddenly smiled up at her as the Doctor folded his tricorder closed. "Hmmm."

"Hmmm?" B'Elanna asked. "What's that supposed to mean Doctor?"

"You can tell the Captain that he has yet another healthy human on board and yet another one I have to take care of." the hologram replied sarcastically. "But, I'm also detecting increased brain activity. It's as if Bray is using over forty eight percent of his brain. I'd like to keep him here for awhile for additional scans."

Not liking what he was hearing, Bray clutched onto B'Elanna's arm. Before she could say anything, her combadge chirped.

**B'Elanna you're needed to the Ready room.** Harry's voice said over the comline. **And bring Bray with you.**

"I have to stop off and change but I'm on my way, Captain." B'Elanna replied with a toothy grin. "We'll just have to do those scans at a later time Doc." she said as she took the boy off of the bed. "Come on Bray."

"Lt. before you leave could you..." it was too late as B'Elanna walked out of the room, making the Doctor drop his hand. "...please shut off my program." he finished with a shake of his head.

Ready Room

Having changed into a crisp new uniform, B'Elanna walked into the Ready room with Bray and sat down to the left of Harry while Bray having changed into an all black outfit, sat down beside her. Tom sat at the other side of the table, next to him sat Lt. Commander Rollins, Lt. Campbell and Counselor Isis.

"Hello Bray, how are you doing?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Fine." Bray replied.

"The Doctor said he's a perfectly healthy human boy." B'Elanna spoke up as the rest of the crew looked at her. "He says that he might be using over half of his brain though, so he wants to do some additional scans on him."

"As long as Bray doesn't object it'll be fine." Harry replied. "Now that, that's out of the way... Bray can you tell us how you got here?"

"I... I've always been here." Bray answered. "My family... my family always traveled around from planet to planet to spread truth until one day some bad men came and killed them. They killed my big sister Abigail in front of me. When they were done with her they beat me up and dumped me on that planet... alone so I could die."

"That's one of the saddest stories I've ever heard." Isis said as a tear threatened to fall from her eye. "How long have you been on that planet by yourself?"

"For a long time." Bray replied as he looked down.

"What truth were your parents trying to spread?" Rollins asked as everyone turned an angry glare his way.

How insensitive can this prick be? Tom thought to himself.

"Peace." Bray replied as he looked from Rollins to B'Elanna. "Peace and love."

"Your parents were killed because they wanted to spread a message of peace and love?" Rollins asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not like it's that uncommon." B'Elanna replied.

"Of course it's not." Harry interjected, hoping a fight wouldn't break out. Honestly he wasn't in the mood for it. "Especially when you're trying to spread peace in a hostile place like the Delta Quadrant."

"So you understand?" Bray asked as he looked deep into Harry's eyes.

"Of course I do." Harry answered. "We're a part of Starfleet. We're the good guys and when the Caretaker brought us here the first thing that happened to us was being attacked."

"I still have one question." Rollins spoke up again. "How did a human boy get all the way to the Delta Quadrant."

"With all due respect, sir... but why don't you lay off of him." B'Elanna answered, her temper starting to flare. "He's just a scared little boy and he just lost all of his family. The last thing he needs is somebody badgering him."

"Well Lieutenant." Rollins replied just as angrily. "I think..."

"That's enough." Harry said as a headache started. "Because of all that's happened, Bray I'd like for you to stay with Counselor Isis. I think she can..."

"I want to stay with Lana." Bray nearly shouted as he grabbed the half Klingon woman's hand. Taken aback, she squeezed his hand too.

"Okay." Harry replied, startled at the boys attitude on not being separated from his Chief Engineer, who gave him a nod of her head that it was okay. "If that's all you're dismissed. Bray welcome to the crew."

As B'Elanna took Bray out of the room, Harry stood up and Tom, Isis, and Rollins walked over to him.

"There's just something about him that I don't trust Captain." Rollins started.

"He's just a little boy, Commander." Isis chided. "You shouldn't be so suspicious of him."

"Just because he's a boy doesn't mean we shouldn't watch him." Rollins countered.

"For the first time in awhile, I actually agree with Commander Rollins." Harry spoke up.

"Come on Harry, he's just a little kid." Tom said not believing what he was hearing.

"Either way you can't tell me that there's not something about him that seems off." Harry replied as he turned to him. "We'll watch him from afar but right now he's a part of our crew. Dismissed."

Engineering

Bray sat cross-legged on the floor with a smile as he watched B'Elanna work in Engineering. Even though she was enthralled in said work, she felt his eyes on her. Turning, she couldn't help but give him a toothy grin. Putting down the PADD she was looking at she walked over to him.

"Let me guess, you're bored aren't you?" Torres asked as he shook his head. "Oh?" she asked as she picked him up. "If you're not bored then what are you?" as she asked that question his stomach suddenly grumbled. "I'm hungry too. Rodriguez you have Engineering." she called out over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

Bridge

Commander Tom Paris stood up as he handed over helm to his relief, Ensign Ahni Jetal. They still didn't have enough capable pilots on board, so he had to fill in the gap from time to time.

"Holding course three five one mark one zero, warp seven." Tom said to Jetal as she sat down. "We'll be passing a red dwarf system in forty minutes. I can't tell you if there are any M-class planets." with a nod of her head Paris walked over to Harry, who was sitting in the command center. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's see what Bree has got for us." Harry replied as he stood to his feet. "Mr. Rollins you have the Bridge." with that said the both of them walked onto the turbolift. As they were alone, Tom turned to his best friend and smiled.

"You lucky dog, when were you going to tell me?"

"Wha... what are you talking about?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I see the way you and B'Elanna have been looking at each other..."

"So what."

"So what?" Tom asked as he scrunched his nose up. "You can't tell me that look is the one you would give a friend."

"I plan on seeing my girlfriend again."

"Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry. You really think she's going to wait for you?"

" I hope so." Harry replied quietly, his thoughts going towards Lyndsay Ballard instead of it going directly to Libby.

"Let her go." Tom suggested. "It's probably going to take us seventy five years to get home. Let her have a husband and kids and a good life, while you have B'Elanna." Seeing that Harry wasn't budging he continued. "You're making a big mistake. Can't you see what's going to happen? We're the only humans out here, Harry. People are going to start pairing off, and if you don't get to B'Elanna soon, somebody else will. Hey wait... don't tell me that you're prejudice against Klingons?"

"What?" Harry asked with wide eyes. "I think B'Elanna is beautiful!"

As he proclaimed that the turbolift doors opened and B'Elanna and Bray stared at him with wide eyes for a second before walking in. Harry stared at the back of the woman's head like a deer caught in headlights while Tom smiled, knowing full well that B'Elanna had to have heard what Harry had said. Giving Harry a wolfish grin, Tom knew he couldn't have planned this situation better himself.

Mess Hall

As Harry, Tom, Bray and B'Elanna walked into the new mess hall, they looked around in awe at what Bree had done to the room in just a couple of days. Tables and chairs lined the room and Bree was behind a counter serving the crew some plates of food.

"Wow, she's been busy." Tom commented as he gave the pretty brunette woman a wave, which she happily returned.

Walking over to the counter they grabbed a tray and waited in line. As they came next, B'Elanna looked at her plate in surprise when she saw what looked to be fried chicken and potato salad with paprika on it.

"Bree... I... thanks for this but I thought we talked about not using the replicator for food?" B'Elanna asked.

"Oh... um, I didn't." Bree replied nervously, hoping that one of her saviors wasn't mad at her. "Before we left new Ocampa, I took a few chickens and vegetables and fruit from that world. I talked to Commander Rollins and he assured me that nothing I took was toxic and I overheard you say that your favorite foods were..."

"I get it." B'Elanna interrupted as she handed Bray a tray of food. "Thanks for this."

"I hope you enjoy your meal." Bree replied as she then served Harry and Tom as B'Elanna walked to a table.

"I gotta say that this food at least smells delicious." Tom remarked as he and Harry sat down next to the half Klingon woman, not seeing as B'Elanna and Harry looked at each other awkwardly. "Mmmm, it is good." he was going to ask Bray how his food was but he was busy digging in.

As the group sat there eating Neelix and Kes suddenly walked into the room, both of them wearing Starfleet uniforms. Kes wore a Starfleet blue and black uniform while Neelix wore a gold and black one.

"Ah... Captain, I know you're eating but do you mind if I have a word with you?" Neelix asked as he walked up to the table.

"Yeah, go ahead." Harry replied as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and turned around to look at them.

"Well Captain you've given me a new uniform and a chance on this ship but ur, what do you... what do you want me to do?" Neelix nervously asked. He had originally planned to make a galley but Bree beat him to it.

"Well, I was looking at your list of skills and from what you told me about fighting in your Talaxian war, I'd like for you to be a part of our security team." Harry answered. "Get something to eat and then report to Commander Rollins and he'll train you."

"Yes sir, I won't let you down." Neelix replied as he turned around and walked towards the food counter.

"Kes have a seat." Harry said as he stood to his feet and pulled a chair out for her.

Hmmm he didn't pull out my chair for me. B'Elanna thought to herself, before her brow furrowed. Why do I care?

"So Kes, how is your hydroponics bay turning out?" Tom asked as he looked up to see Neelix getting two trays of food, before looking back to her.

"It's coming along fine and I think I should be done moving everything around in the next day or two." she answered.

"Well just let us know if you need anything." Harry said as he took a sip of coffee. "We're still short handed, well at least until the Ocampa and the women we took from the Kazon are trained, but that hydroponics bay will help out a lot with our food supply."

"I'm just glad that, I could help." Kes replied with a smile as she looked over to Bray. "It looks like someone is tired."

Looking in the little boys direction, they saw that he was fast asleep. Taking the last bite of her food, B'Elanna stood up and picked him up. "He still doesn't have any quarters so he's going to sleep with me." B'Elanna informed them all. "Hey Starfleet will you get that tray for me and put it in the recycler?"

"Yeah, sure." Harry replied as she walked out of the room. As he looked back at the people sitting at the table, he saw that they were staring at him. "What?"

"Well it's just hard to tell who the Captain on this ship is sometimes." Tom replied with a smirk as the others chuckled.

"Oh ha, ha Paris." Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

B'Elanna's Quarters

B'Elanna clapped her hands and smiled as she sat in bed and watched as Bray spider walked on the floor. "You're very flexible for a little guy." she commented as she patted on the bed. "Now get up here buddy, it's time to get some shut eye."

Happily obliging, Bray got under the covers with her and snuggled close to her as she tucked him in.

"Lana can, I ask you a question?" Bray asked as he laid on her arm.

"Yeah." she replied as she let out a yawn. "Go ahead."

"Are Starfleet really good folks?"

"Yeah." B'Elanna said with a half smile. "Like Captain Kim told you... we're the good guys."

"Then why do they force everyone to conform?"

"What did you say?" B'Elanna asked, perking up a bit. The concept of what he was saying seemed to be years ahead of what a five year old should have been thinking about. In fact, she thought curiously to herself, ever since meeting him he never talked like a kid his age should.

"Why do they make you conform and do everything the Starfleet way?" he asked. "Why can't people believe in their Gods? Why aren't they embracing what other cultures have to offer?"

"Well they are." B'Elanna replied as her thoughts started to come at her, rapid fire. "I mean it's hard for me to be an advocate for Starfleet but they have rules for a reason."

"Are these the same rules that got the Maquis killed?" Bray asked as he turned to look at her. His green eyes looking deep into her soul.

"How did you..."

"Are these the same rules that make you feel like you're not beautiful?" he asked stopping her cold. "I see how you look at other women and I know how you view yourself. Why do you want to be like them? Why don't you think you're just as beautiful as them?"

"Because... because I've been persecuted my whole life for being half Klingon." B'Elanna answered, compelled to tell him the truth. "For once, I'd just like to know how the other half lives."

Not saying a word, Bray traced his hand along the side of her cranial ridges, before falling into a deep sleep. Watching as his little chest went up and down, B'Elanna contemplated what he had said before her stomach started doing flip flops. Jumping off the bed she ran for the bathroom and started throwing up in the toilet.

As her nausea started to subside, she ran some water in the sink and started to splash it on her face, only for her hands to freeze. She didn't feel any cranial ridges on her forehead. Looking up to the mirror she dropped her hands and gasped as she saw her face. She was completely human. And not to toot her own horn but she was a beautiful Latina mommy.

Stumbling out of the bathroom, she looked on her bed and saw that Bray was fast asleep. Not caring how it was done, there was someone that she had to see. As she ran out of the room, Bray opened his eyes, a devilish smile on his lips before he went back to sleep.

Harry's Quarters

Letting out a yawn, Harry quickly opened the door to his room and was caught off guard as a dark haired whirlwind jumped into his arms and started to kiss him passionately on the lips. Managing to pull away from her for a second, he looked deeply into the woman's eyes and instantly knew who she was.

"B'Elanna?" he asked in surprise. "But how..."

"It doesn't matter." she replied lowly as she silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. "I... we... our bodies need this."

Pushing him back on his bed, B'Elanna got on top of him and kissed him on the base of the neck. Giving in to desire the both of them started to make love all night.

A/N Bray actually isn't at full power yet, because he's been asleep for so long. Also I'm sorry that this chapter didn't really have any action in it, but I promise the next one will.


	16. Chapter 15 The Eater of Worlds pt 3

Chapter 15

The Eater of Worlds pt. 3

Mess Hall

"Harry you seem chipper this morning." Tom greeted as he sat down across from his best friend. "In fact, I'll even go as far as to say you're glowing."

"I just woke up feeling good... that's all." Harry replied, not being able to control his smile as he drank his coffee. "Aren't you due on the bridge anyway?"

"I have to report there in about thirty minutes." Tom replied as he squinted his eyes at him. "So are you going to tell me who the woman is or not?"

"Wha... what do you mean?" Harry asked with wide eyes as he spat out his coffee. Gathering some napkins he started to clean up what he spilled.

"I'm talking about the rumor that spread around that some woman went into your quarters late last night." Tom answered. "Nobody knows who she was but I want to know if it's true?"

"That's none of your business Paris." Harry replied as he cleared his throat and tried to remain calm.

"So it is true?" Tom asked as he sat up and gave him a look. "Spill the beans. Who was she?"

**Captain you're needed to the bridge.** Came an officers voice over the com-line.

"I'm on my way." Harry replied with a smile as he slapped at his combadge and stood to his feet. "Duty calls Commander."

And with that Harry drank the last of his coffee and was out the door. With a shake of his head, Tom watched him leave.

* * *

><p>B'Elanna stumbled into her room after a night of intense love making. Seeing that Bray was still asleep on her bed, she walked over and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, before she laid down beside him and fell asleep. Grinning like a mad man... or mad boy, Bray saw that the first part of his plan was coming into fruition.<p>

As he closed his eyes to get some more rest, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. Making sure that B'Elanna was asleep, he got out of bed and was on the move.

The Baxial

Neelix twist and turned all night in his bed when Kes told him the name of their newest guest. She had also told him what the little boy had said to her and it un-nerved him, but not as much as his name did. It was so familiar and he knew that he had to have known it from somewhere. So here he was so early in the morning at his ships computer trying to see if the name was in the ships database.

Typing in the boy's name, he jumped back in awe as an old fairy tale named Demon popped up on the screen first. "Beware the demon named Bray Wyatt." Neelix muttered the first line. "He will come into your life with promises of peace only to destroy you. He will lead the weak minded like a moth to a flame until all is consumed and nothing is left. He was cast into a pit on a planet of pink and blue only with the promise that he would return." A planet with a pink sky? Neelix thought to himself. Didn't the sky turn pink when we were on New Ocampa? As he asked himself that he typed into his computer again and over fifty forms of literature ranging from poems to first hand accounts popped up on his tiny screen. "I need to tell the Captain about this." he said aloud as he stood to his feet.

As he did that the lights in the cabin turned off for a few seconds and a sound of a distant scream could be heard. After three seconds the lights turned back on and Bray Wyatt and two other tall men, were standing right behind him. Both men wore brown ceremonial robes and had long beards, one of them having a black beard and the other one having a red beard. The one with the black beard had a crazed look in his eyes, while the one with the red beard had what looked to be a white sheep mask over his face.

"You stupid little Talaxian." Bray said as he cocked his head to the side. "You're dwelling where no man should dwell."

"What are you... what are you going to do to me?" Neelix asked nervously, too afraid to try to touch his combadge. To be honest he didn't know whether to shit or wind his watch at the moment.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to kill you brother." Bray told him, making Neelix visibly relax. "But this is going to hurt a hell of a lot."

As he said that the room went black and Neelix's scream echoed throughout his tiny ship. Within minutes, Neelix lay on the ground bloodied and unconscious. Walking out of the Baxial and into the corridors of Voyager the ship started to get dark, only highlighted by over head pools of light.

As Bray passed through each pool of light, he seemed to age. Hitting one beam of light he was suddenly a preteen, with another he was a teenager, passing through yet another one he was a man in his late twenties with a long brown beard and the same devilish smile he had over three hundred years ago. He was going to wait awhile to get people on Voyager to join him, but he decided to hell with it. He'd just take over on his own accord.

Corridor

"I'm telling you Dean, I've only known Neelix for awhile but he doesn't seem like the type to not report for duty." Roman was saying as he, Commander Rollins and Dean Ambrose walked down one of the ships corridors together.

"I don't like that little twerp much but I have to agree with Roman." Rollins spoke up. "This doesn't seem like him."

As they turned a corner they suddenly bumped into Bray Wyatt, Luke, and Erick.

"Well, well, well." Bray drawled. "Fancy meeting you here, Commander."

"Bray?" Rollins asked in shock as he recognized those same intense green eyes.

"The one and the same." Wyatt answered as he slapped Rollins hard across the face taking him off of his feet.

Taking the invitation for a fight, Roman ran forward and football tackled Luke hard sending them both to the ground. As he let loose a barrage of punches on his downed opponent, Luke suddenly threw the big man, where he hit hard on one of the corridors walls. Getting to his feet, he ducked under the aliens swing and came up with a flying punch of his own that knocked the alien back several feet.

Not seeing the punch coming, Dean was nearly taken off of his feet as Erick hit him in the face. Coming back up he sent out an arm and took the bigger man off of his feet. Managing to get behind him, he put Erick in a full nelson and tripped forward, sending the alien head first down to the ground, where it's head met the floor with a sickening crunch.

Seeing his men going all out, Commander Rollins sized Bray Wyatt up. As Bray looked back at him with a grin, Rollins was about to slap his combadge to call for back up until Bray stopped him.

"In times of battle, chaos reigns and the sheep quickly turn into wolves." Bray started as they circled each other. "Men will do whatever it takes to claim victory and their true nature will come to light. I am prepared to enter into that battleground. Are you?"

Dropping his hand from his chest Rollins ran forward and kicked Bray in the stomach. As he doubled over in pain, Rollins took a couple of steps back and took a running leap forward and pushed his foot on Bray's back sending Bray face first onto the ground.

As the Shield started to walk backwards to examine their work, they frowned as they heard Bray Wyatt start laughing. Rolling onto his back, Bray suddenly sat up on his hands and started to creepily spider walk towards them. With a grunt of protest Erick and Luke cracked their necks and ran forward for another attack.

The Bridge

Harry laughed at a stupid joke that Tom had just told him. It wasn't particularly funny but he laughed at it anyway. He wanted to tell him what had happened to B'Elanna but he wanted her to reveal that herself. Hearing the turbolift doors open, Harry glanced back and saw a nervous looking Kes run onto the Bridge.

"Kes what's the matter?" Harry asked as she walked down into the command center.

"It's Neelix." Kes said out of breath. "I can't find him anywhere and everyone I've talked to says they haven't seen him since last night."

"Computer locate Cadet Neelix." Harry said into the air.

**I'm afraid he's busy being unconscious right now, Captain.** Bray's voice said over the com-line.

"Who the hell is that?" Tom mouthed to Harry.

**It's me Commander.** Bray answered, somehow having heard him. **Bray Wyatt.**

"Bray?" Harry asked as he stood to his feet. "What the hell is going on here?"

**What's going on is... well sir I think you should just come on down to Sickbay.** Bray answered. **I want us to talk face to face. Bring Sister Torres with you and no one else.** He ordered as the com-line was cut.

"Harry what are you going..."

"I don't know." Harry cut him off as he swallowed hard. He wanted to call Commander Rollins but he was afraid that Bray might over hear. "Just watch the bridge."

"Harry." Tom called out as the Captain stopped short of walking onto the turbolift. "Be careful."

With a nod of his head, Harry walked onto the turbolift even as Tom and Isis shared a nervous glance.

Sickbay

"She reminds me of Sleeping Beauty." Bray said to Erick and Luke as they stood over Lt. Stadi's prone body. "Such a shame really, that someone so beautiful should be in a coma. Perhaps I should just end her life. Don't you agree Mr. Kelor?" he asked as he looked down on the floor and smiled at Kelor's dead body. "That's right, you're dead." His neck was twisted at an ungodly angle and he clutched a hypospray in his left hand. If only he hadn't decided to try and play a hero he would still be alive.

As he had that dark thought, Harry and B'Elanna suddenly walked into Sickbay.

"For the love of Kahless." B'Elanna gasped as she saw Kelor dead on the floor and the Shield laid out unconscious next to him.

"Don't worry, Kelor is the only one that's dead." Bray answered their unasked question. "The rest are just sleeping. You should be proud of them Captain. They were trained well."

"Bray?" B'Elanna asked as she stepped fully into the room and stared at the older man. "What the hell is going on!?"

"What's going on sister is... a revolution." Bray answered. "I've been gone too long and conformity has taken over. Free thought is gone."

"What gives you the right to..."

"What gives me the right, Captain?" Bray asked with a laugh. "What gives you the right to ask me not to use my own free thought and my own free will?"

"Harry beam this thing off of the ship." Janeway warned as she walked from behind him. "Normally, I value life but this thing isn't a man. It's one of the most evil things..."

"I'd tell your little birdie to shut up if I were you, Captain." Bray warned as he looked from a surprised Janeway to an even more surprised Harry. "That's right... I can see your little ghostly friend."

"What the hell are you going on about?" B'Elanna asked as she looked from Bray to Harry.

"It really doesn't matter." Bray replied, his warning haven already been given as Janeway disappeared. "What does matter is that I want you to come with me B'Elanna."

"Bray... I..."

"You told me that your whole life you always felt that you were an outsider no matter where you went." Bray said cutting her off. "Now I'm offering you a chance at immortality and to walk in beauty. Come join the Wyatt family and I promise you that we'll leave this ship without another casualty. In fact they can go on their merry ole way to the Alpha Quadrant, just know that this part of the galaxy is mine."

"What if... what if I don't want to come with you?" B'Elanna dared to question.

"Then you'll burn with the rest of them." Bray replied as he lost his smile. Swallowing hard B'Elanna started to walk forward.

"B'Elanna!" Harry yelled as he tried to reach out to grab her arm.

"I'm sorry, Harry." B'Elanna apologized as Bray threw a protective arm around her shoulder. "This is the only way and for once in my life, I want to belong." as she said that, she took off her com-badge. Giving a gesture that she was going to throw it to the floor, she suddenly back kicked Bray between the legs and as he knelt over, she slapped it on his back and used all of the strength she could muster to push him into Luke and Erick before jumping away from them.

"Go!" Harry simply yelled as he hit his com-badge.

As Bray started to be dematerialized off of the ship, by sheer force of will he fought the confinement beam and eyed Harry with murder in his eyes. Using his power, the energy from the Transporter's beam started to fade away. Gasping in horror, Torres watched as Bray started to reach for her. Before she knew what was going on, she watched as Kes and three other Ocampa came into the room and formed a loose circle around Bray and the others. Using an unseen force, they used their power to push Bray back into the confinement beam.

"B'Elanna!" Bray yelled, his hand extended as he and the Wyatt family were beamed off of the ship.

"Kes?" Harry asked in shock, after just witnessing... well he didn't know what he had just witnessed.

"I'm... I'm alright, Captain." Kes replied as she touched her head, which was swimming at the moment. "The others and I sensed danger and we... we came to help."

**Captain we've found Neelix in his ship and he's been injured.** Lt. Campbell's voice said over the comline before Harry could question the Ocampa woman or the others about the power they displayed. **I'm dispatching a team now to pick him up and bring him to Sickbay.**

"Alright." Harry replied back as he nodded to Kes that she could leave. He also watched the other people go and coming back to the present, he called upon the Computer before he ran to Roman and the other Shield members to see how they were doing. "Computer; activate EMH."

"Please state the nature of..." the Doctor stopped talking as he looked to the floor and saw Kelor dead on the ground and the Shield slowly coming back to consciousness. "Is it possible to go one day without mayhem?"

As the Doctor started to examine his downed security team, Harry pulled B'Elanna to the side.

"How did you know that he wanted to take you with him?" Harry asked as he helped B'Elanna stand to her feet. As she looked up at him, he saw that she had changed back to her Klingon half self.

"I just took a wild guess." she replied referring to the plan that they had come up with as they headed to Sickbay. She could feel the ship hitting high warp once Bray had been beamed off of the ship.

"Aww man what hit me?" Roman asked as his mind swam back to consciousness.

"Hopefully someone we won't ever see again." Captain Kim replied with a sigh.

Later That Day

"I'm sorry about Kelor." Harry was saying to Bree as she cried into his chest. "According to security footage, he died trying to protect Lt. Stadi. With my people there's no higher honor then dying for someone else. We'll prepare his funeral any way you like and we'll give him a heroes welcome to your species' after life."

"I... I understand, Captain." Bree replied as Isis walked over to her so they could get the funeral arrangements together.

With a sigh, Harry walked over to Neelix's bio-bed where Kes was holding his hand. Seeing him walking up, the Doctor took a step back so they could talk. "We seem to keep meeting like this Neelix." Harry started with a dry smile. "And I find myself keep apologizing. Are you sure you want to continue your journey with us?"

"Well of course, I do Captain." Neelix wheezed out. "I knew I'd get my fair share of bumps and bruises on this voyage but I won't let it stop me from doing my duty to you and keeping my promise to be your guide."

"Thank you for that." Harry replied, truly proud of his newly acquired crew member. "When you're well enough, I want every record from your ship transferred over to Voyagers database. It doesn't matter if it's an old poem or a legend. I also want a complete list of every alien species you know, no matter if they're hostile or not on my desk as soon as possible."

"Aye sir... ow." Neelix yelped as he tried to raise his hand to salute.

Nodding his head, Harry was about to walk off until the Doctor stopped him. "Captain given that my... trainee was killed, I'm in need of another."

"I'd like to do it." Kes spoke up as she looked from Neelix to the Doctor.

Seeing B'Elanna walk out of Sickbay, Harry quickly turned to the blond Ocampa woman. "It looks like you have your newest volunteer. If that's all Doctor." was all Harry said as he ran out of the door, the Doctor closing his mouth as he was about to speak.

"And they say, I'm rude." the Doctor said to no one in particular as he rolled his holographic eyes.

* * *

><p>"B'Elanna wait!" Harry yelled as he caught up to her in the corridor.<p>

"Harry." she replied dryly as she turned around to look at him. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for a funeral?"

"I wanted to check up on you first." he said as he grabbed her hand to keep her from walking.

"Well, as you can see I'm fine."

"Are you?" Harry asked. "B'Elanna please don't shut down on me right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said as she looked away from him.

"B'Elanna let me make myself perfectly clear." Harry replied as he put a gentle hand under her chin and made her look at him. "I don't care how you look or how you might view yourself but... I love you. I gave you all of me last night and after what we shared... I..."

"You're talking like that was your first time or something." she said as she looked deep into his eyes. "That... that was your first time wasn't it? So you and Libby..."

"No... me and Libby never had sex." he confirmed.

"Harry... I... I just need to sort out my feelings." she said as she turned to leave, only to stop in her tracks at the next words that came out of his mouth.

"Then, I'll give you... I'll give you all the time you need." Seeing that she was hurting him, she decided to give him a hug. After a few minutes of holding one another B'Elanna looked up and saw as a dark look in Harry's eyes. "When Neelix is feeling better, I want you to get with him and learn all you can about the aliens he knows about and their weapons capabilities. I see we have to be like the Borg now and adapt. I don't want to lose another member of this crew because we weren't prepared."

"I'll get right on it." B'Elanna told him. Looking into his eyes again, that dark look reminded her of Chakotay's when he would fearlessly rush into battle.

* * *

><p>Bray Wyatt, Luke, and Erick floated lifelessly through space. After a few minutes Bray's eyes suddenly opened and a blue tear in space opened up in front of them. Looking forward to his next adventure, he was suddenly sucked up into it and as he reappeared, he was suddenly in an all white room, where he saw a dark skinned Bajoran woman eyeing him and carrying a old timey lantern.<p>

"Who are you?" Bray asked as he eyed her evenly.

"My name is Tabrin." she replied with a sly smile that could equal his. "I'm glad that you're here."

"Tabrin?" Bray questioned with a cocksure smile as he slowly strutted over to her. "You mind if we have a little chat?" as he asked that he blew out the blue flame in the lantern, casting the white room into complete darkness.

A/N The character of Tabrin is from my story Annika and the Emissary. If you haven't read the story before, which you should, she's basically a character that was trained by Q to take the Prophets from DS9's place in the Celestial temple. She was created to be a sort of a guardian to mankind in different dimensions. If you ever read that story you'll know what I'm talking about.


	17. Chapter 16 Phage pt 1

Chapter 16

Phage pt. 1

B'Elanna listened to the steady rhythm of Harry's heartbeat as she laid her head on his chest. The two had a long talk about their feelings and they hadn't made love again, preferring to let their relationship develop slowly. To be honest she wanted to speed things up a bit, even though she was the one who suggested that they take things slow in the first place. There were just so many feelings and thoughts she was having, most of them being how barbaric the Kazon were to her, that it made her feel as if she couldn't maintain a normal romantic relationship. But all she knew was that she enjoyed this moment. A moment where she just laid in bed in her Harry's arms. It was a small moment where she felt safe because he was always so gentle with her.

Looking up at his face, she saw that he seemed to be preoccupied with something as he looked up at the ceiling, not blinking. Licking her dry lips, she leaned up and kissed him under the bottom of his chin.

"What are you thinking about?" B'Elanna asked as he started to blush.

"I... ummmm... I was actually thinking about us." Harry replied as his cheeks reddened even more and he looked back up to the ceiling.

"So are you going to tell me what exactly you were thinking about us?" she asked with a grin.

"I was just thinking that... no it's nothing."

"Come on Harry, I have to know what it was now." she replied as she sat up in bed and looked at him.

Pushing up on his elbows, Harry turned to look at her before he let out a breath. "Fine. I... I was just thinking about what would happen to us if we somehow managed to get back to the Alpha Quadrant sooner rather then later."

"How is that supposed to affect our relationship?" B'Elanna asked, not understanding where this was going.

"B'Elanna think about it." Harry started with a raised eyebrow. "I hardly think that Starfleet is going to approve of me dating a terrorist." as soon as those words left his mouth, he instantly regretted them. Looking in his girlfriends eyes, he was surprised to find understanding in them.

"Then maybe you should drop out of Starfleet." B'Elanna joked. "You could join the Maquis."

"Me? Join the Maquis?" Harry asked with a chuckle. "I can hardly get this gig down-packed."

His good mood leaving him, he suddenly rolled over in bed. Understanding where he was coming from she placed an arm around his waist and put her head on his shoulder. "Cut yourself some slack. You're doing a better job then I would have in your position."

"Yeah... yeah you're right." Harry said cheering up a little. "I am doing a better job then you would have."

"There you... hey what's that supposed to mean?" B'Elanna asked as Harry started to chuckle.

* * *

><p><em>Captain's Log Stardate 48579.4. We're on our way to a rogue planetoid that Cadet Neelix tells us is an extremely rich source of raw dilithium. If he's right, this could go a long way toward easing our power shortage.<em>

"Assuming we do find dilithium on this planetoid, do you think B'Elanna can make a refining area on the ship to process it?" Harry asked as he and Commander Paris walked out of

"Do I think she can?" Tom asked with a snort. "B'Elanna has already asked permission to start modifications to the auxiliary impulse reactor. It could be converted into a crude dilithium refinery."

"The impulse reactor?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. Why didn't I think of that? "I see somebody likes going out of her way to find solutions that ignore Starfleet procedures."

"That's B'Elanna." Tom replied with a shrug, as if that explained everything and for all rights and purposes it did. "But she thinks it can be done safely."

"If she says so then I know that it can." Harry agreed. "Just tell her I want regular reports on her progress."

**Bridge to Captain Kim.** Came Lt. Campbell's voice on the com-line.

"Go ahead." Harry replied as he tapped at his com-badge.

**We're approaching the rogue planetoid, Captain.**

"I'm on my way." Harry said as he tapped at his com-badge again. "Neelix, I want you to meet me on the bridge."

* * *

><p>Sweat poured off of Neelix's brow as he struggled to do the last few reps of push ups. Arms flaring up, he blew out a breath as he finished his reps and stood to his feet.<p>

"That was good, Neelix." Roman said clearly impressed. "Now I have a list of some other exercises, I'd like for you to do."

"Bu... but I thought that was it?" Neelix asked, exhausted and out of breath. He had been exercising for the last thirty minutes with no break in between.

"That was only the beginning." Roman replied with a smile. "Now I want you to..." Roman stopped talking as the Captain's voice came over the com-line, calling Neelix to the bridge.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Reigns." Neelix said with a toothy grin as he ran a hand over his sweaty forehead. "The Captain needs me." Running off, Roman shook his head as he watched him leave.

The Bridge

"Did you find the planetoid that Neelix told us about?" Harry immediately asked as he and Tom walked off of the turbolift.

"We're picking up definite dilithium signatures, Captain." Lt. Campbell answered. "The strongest readings are originating from ten to twenty kilometers inside the planetoid."

"It also looks like there's a series of subterranean caves with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere." B'Elanna added from the science station. Making sure no one was looking she gave her boyfriend a wink, instantly making Harry blush.

"So it's a class M, planetoid?" Tom asked as he looked to Harry. "It'll make mining a lot easier if we can go in there without environmental suits. Are you okay Harry? You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine." Captain Kim replied as he cleared his throat. "How much dilithium are we talking about?"

"It's hard to get a precise reading." B'Elanna reported, suddenly becoming professional. "It could be anywhere from five hundred to one thousand metric tons."

"Just as I said." Neelix announced as he walked out onto the bridge with a smile. Happy that he could finally help. "I bet there are a few Yallitaian engineers who'd give all three of their spinal columns to know where this planet is."

I bet they would. Harry thought with a grin of his own. "Commander, take an away team down into those caves and do a preliminary geological analysis. B'Elanna, you'd better get your dilithium refinery on-line."

"It'll be ready to go in three days." B'Elanna replied as she stood to her feet and headed to Engineering.

"Campbell you're with me." Tom ordered as Neelix moved to join them by the turbolift. "Where are you going? Shouldn't you be going through physical training with Roman today?"

"I was thinking that I could go with you." Neelix said as he swallowed hard. He'd had enough physical training for one day. "I've been studying my tricorder operations manual. Lieutenant Torres has brought me up to date on dilithium geophysics. To tell you the truth Commander I've been preparing for this mission all week."

"Okay... Neelix you're with us." Tom replied as he moved to the side and let him into the turbolift. Looking back to Harry, Paris saw that he was smiling at him teasingly. With a roll of his eyes the turbolift closed behind them. "Deck four."

"I think you'll find me extremely helpful, Commander." Neelix said excitedly as the turbolift kicked into action. "I remember the first time I flew past this planet, it was about three years ago."

"I'm a bit surprised that this planetoid wasn't stripped of all of it's resources." Campbell spoke up. Neelix loved the way the woman spoke in her English accent. Her voice seemed just so... elegant. "I can only assume that not many people know about this place."

"You assumed right, Lieutenant." Neelix told her. "The Kazon don't know about this place and the few species of people that do want to keep it that way. Call it a trader's secret."

As the turbolift came to a stop and the doors swished open, the group walked out of it and nearly bumped into a distraught looking Isis.

"Counselor." Tom greeted with a big smile. God he could stare into this woman's eyes forever, that was when he chose to look at her eyes. "What are you doing..."

"Commander, I want to come along with you on this mission." Isis said, no trace of humor or anything in her voice. Tom considered that strange because every since they had met they always had a good back and forth with one another. Plus he knew that she had to be serious because she never really called him Commander, it was always just Tom.

"I can't really see the point of a Counselor coming on this mission." Tom replied, keeping his expression even. "What's up?"

Catching the hint, Neelix and Lt. Campbell headed towards the Transporter room.

"I... I know this is going to sound stupid, but I had a bad dream." Isis admitted as the others got out of earshot.

"A bad dream?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow and folded arms. "A bad dream about..."

"It was a dream like all dreams." Isis said trying to think. "You know the ones where you can't remember what happens."

"But you do remember something?" Tom questioned. "What was it?"

"I remember somebody screaming Commander." Isis replied nervously as her eyes bore into his. "I remember someone screaming their last scream."

"I...I..." Tom stammered for a minute, caught off guard about what she had just said. "Isis you know the dilithium we stand to get from this planetoid will go a long way towards getting us home." Tom said as he started to consider her feelings. "We already scanned the surface and they're isn't any life on the planetoid and the caverns seem structurally sound, but I promise you that at the first sign of trouble we'll beam back on board."

"That's all that I ask." Isis replied with a sad smile, as Tom dropped the protective hand that he had placed on her shoulder. Watching as he walked away she hoped that this wasn't the last time she'd ever see him.

Planetoid

"It looks like there are several large deposits in this general vicinity." Tom said as he, Neelix, Lt. Lyssa Campbell and Ensign Vorik materialized in a cavern. Looking down at his tricorder again, he nodded to the others. "Let's split up and begin taking geological scans. Neelix you go with Lyssa and Vorik you're with me. Keep your comm. channels open at all times and don't wander too far. Stay within a fifty meter radius of this position."

"Aye sir." Neelix said for them all as they walked down different tunnels. Perhaps if they had stayed a few moments longer they would have noticed their beam in site transform into a constructed tunnel with pipes along the wall, and a humanoid step into it.

Tunnel One

"So ummm, I was just thinking that we don't know each other that well." Neelix started off as he and Lyssa walked further down the cavern. "If we're possibly going to be travelling together for the next seventy years, I think we should get to know each other better."

"Why don't you tell me about yourself first then Neelix." Lyssa said as she looked up from her scans, with a raised eyebrow. She hated to be interrupted when she was trying to work. "I promise that, I'm listening."

"Well, ummm... I was born on a moon called Rinax." Neelix replied unperturbed. "My people believe in having large families so I had a lot of brothers and sisters. There was a large forest behind our house and I used to take my favorite sister exploring there everyday. Ha, even in the summer when the marshlands were the hottest in the Talaxian sector."

"So what happened to this sister of yours?" Lyssa asked as she snapped her tricorder closed and gave him a look. "She didn't travel with you so..."

"Her name was Alixia and... and she and my entire family are dead." Neelix told her as his voice caught. "My people were at war with a species named the Haakonians and they destroyed my planet." Seeing that he had made Lyssa sad, he suddenly put a chipper facade in place. "But, I can't dwell in the past now, I can only look toward a brighter future."

"I'm so sorry Neelix." Lyssa replied anyway as she put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Not wanting him to fall into a funk, she suddenly gave him a smile. "I was born in a place called Lancaster on Earth. When I was three, my annoying little brother and I moved to Long Beach, California. I remember when we got older and moved back to Lancaster that he and I would always go horseback riding. Have you ever been?"

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of a horseback before." Neelix replied making her softly giggle.

"Riding horseback is an activity." Lyssa corrected. "A horse is a domesticated animal that we ride for fun."

"All of the animals on Rinax were too small and we just used them to eat and to make clothing." Neelix informed her.

"Perhaps after we gather this dilithium, I can take you to the holodeck and teach you how to ride a horse."

"I'd like that." Neelix said with a toothy grin as their com-badges suddenly chirped.

**Paris to Campbell.** Tom's voice said over the com-line

"Go ahead Commander." Lyssa replied as she slipped back to her professional mask.

**I'm still picking up dilithium signatures but there are no dilithium formations here. Have you two found anything yet?**

"I'm running a geo-strato analysis of the rock in this vicinity." Lyssa said as she took her tricorder back out and started to scan the area. "So far there's no indication of any dilithium."

**Keep looking.** Tom ordered as the communications was cut.

Tilting his head, Neelix suddenly heard something in the distance. "Did you hear that?" he asked of his companion.

"Hear what?" Lt. Campbell asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just... just stay here and I'll be right back." Neelix said as he took out his tricorder and scampered off in the opposite direction.

Shaking her head, Lyssa went back to doing her scans and she frowned as her tricorder suddenly beeped. "Campbell to Commander Paris."

**Go ahead.**

"I think I've found something, sir." she said as she started walking forward, her head buried in her tricorder readings. "A large cavern approximately twenty meters from my position. I'm reading a huge dilithium formation there."

**Stay within the search radius.** Tom responded. **I'll be with you in a minute.**

"I'm already in the cavern, Commander, but I don't understand this."

**Let me guess, you're still not picking up anything.**

"Not so much as a piece of dilithium, but according to my readings I should be surrounded by it."

**All right, I've had enough of this.** Tom said with a sigh.** It looks like Neelix's spot is a bust. We're heading back to the ship. I want both of you to rendezvous at the...**

"Wait a minute." Lyssa interrupted. "I'm getting unusual readings from this rock face. Traces of organic energy. It looks like a bio-electrical signature. I think there's something alive down here. It's about two meters into this rock face."

**Lyssa, get out of there now!** Tom yelled, his first thoughts going to Isis' earlier warning.

Not having to be told twice Lyssa turned to run only for the rock face behind her to transform into a tunnel. A figure then stepped out and saw her and by instinct she turned and saw the figure before letting out a horrible scream. A scream that was cut off as the figure zapped her with an energy weapon.

**Lyssa, what's wrong?** Tom asked as his blood ran cold. **Lyssa! Neelix!**

Tunnel 2

"I'm on my way sir." Neelix replied, having heard the scream himself. Taking off in a dead run, he, Vorik and Tom met in the cavern. Using his wrist torch, Tom shed a beam of light through the room and both men found Lyssa writhing on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Neelix asked as he pulled his new friend close and stared into her eyes.

"She's going into shock." Tom replied with a grimace as he slapped at his com-badge. "Paris to Voyager, medical emergency. Beam us directly to Sickbay."


	18. Chapter 17 Phage pt 2

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys. Guest and GhostRobo, I've answered your questions at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 17

Phage pt. 2

Sickbay

Neelix and Tom held Lyssa down on the bio-bed while the Doctor scanned her with his medical tricorder.

"Kes, get the blood-gas infuser."

"The what?" she asked even as she turned to go to the medicine cabinet.

"Equipment storage unit two, second shelf on the left. Now!" the Doctor roared frantically. This was the first time he had shown true emotion and Tom was taken aback by it, leaving him to wonder if B'Elanna had already completed work on his subroutines. "Hold her still." he ordered of Tom and Neelix as he tranquilized Lyssa.

"What's happening, Doctor?" Neelix asked as Kes walked back over with a small device.

"I had to induce a medical coma." the Doctor answered as he started to work on Lyssa. "The infuser will keep her oxygen levels stable for the next hour or so, but after that she'll die. It seems that without any form of surgery known to me that her lungs have somehow been removed."

After a little while Kes started moving equipment around and Harry was being brought up to speed on what was going on as he entered the room. "By the time we got to her she was unconscious." Tom finished explaining.

"How the hell could anyone remove her organs so quickly?" Harry dared to ask.

"The Doctor says whoever did this used some kind of transporter to beam the lungs directly out of her body." Tom replied as a dark look came over his best friend.

"Neelix do you know of any species that can do this?" Harry demanded to know.

"Unfortunately, I do Captain." Neelix answered as he swallowed hard. "I've never encountered the Vidiians personally and thank the Great Forest I haven't, but if what I heard is true their species has some kind of disease that makes their organs rot."

"So what, they go around and harvest organs from other species?" Tom asked, grossed out from what he was hearing.

"Precisely." Neelix said as Isis entered the room.

"What happened?" the Counselor asked as Tom swallowed the knot in his throat and gave her a look.

"It seems like your dream came true." Tom told her as he looked back at Lyssa. "At least part of it did. Lt. Campbell is fighting what happened to her."

"Fortunately for her I can give her a set of artificial lungs." The Doctor interrupted. "She'll be up and running in no time."

Good, so I wont lose another member of my crew. Harry thought to himself as he watched Isis move over to Lyssa's bio-bed. "Did you find any evidence of the life sign that she reported?"

"No." Neelix answered grimly.

"The blood gas infuser will keep her alive for another forty seven minutes." The Doctor again cut them off. "The only chance for her survival is for me to do surgery now, so I need all of you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere, Doctor." Neelix spoke up as he looked from the hologram to Lyssa with a haunted look in his eyes. "I left her once and this is what happened to her."

"As you wish, Mr. Neelix." the Doctor replied with a raised eyebrow as Harry gave him a nod before walking out of the room. "Just try to stay out of the way."

Helping the Doctor gather some equipment that they would need for the surgery, Kes looked after her boyfriend and frowned as he held Lt. Campbell's hand. It was a new experience for her but for the first time in her life she felt jealousy.

Corridor Outside of Sickbay

"Commander, I'm taking an away team back to the planet." Harry started as he looked from Isis to Tom. "You're in charge until we return. Inform Mister Rollins that I want three armed security detachments to accompany us. Issue type three phasers."

"Not to question your authority Captain but do you think that's wise?" Isis asked as Harry gave her a look. It was a look that was between curiosity and him just being plain ole pissed off. "My suggestion is for us to just leave. I mean this was obviously a trap and whoever is down there is probably waiting for us to come back."

"Good." Harry replied as that same dark look from before crossed his boyish features. "I'm going to teach these damn Vidiians not to fuck with me, my crew, or Voyager. Thanks for your suggestion but no thanks. Commander you have your orders."

"Yes sir." Tom said as he started to blink rapidly. It seemed that his best friend was descending into darkness and he hoped that he could be saved. Catching his look, Isis looked over at Tom and with a silent promise, she let him know that she would talk to Harry later.

Chamber

Commander Rollins led the Shield down the tunnel as Harry opened the door at the end and they entered a version of sickbay with a metal operating bed and large jars holding tissue samples.

"Captain this room is the source of the dilithium signature we detected earlier." Rollins reported as he started to make scans with his tricorder. "The power systems here are running on an unusual dilithium matrix."

"So there are actually no dilithium deposits on this planet." Harry stated in disappointment. And Lyssa almost got killed for no reason. How stupid could I have been for coming here? he thought to himself darkly.

"It would appear not." Rollins answered the rhetorical question. "Since Neelix and the other species of this quadrant heard of this place, the Vidiians probably mined this place and set up shop to catch any trader that came here."

"Are these organs?" Roman asked as he tapped at one of the jars.

"This actually looks like some sort of storage facility." Harry replied as he looked around "Any sign of Lyssa's lungs?"

"No but I am picking up something else." Dean said as he snapped his tricorder closed. "One life sign twenty meters ahead of us."

"Let's go." Harry ordered as he walked through the door and lifted up his phaser.

As soon as he walked into the room, Harry spotted someone and fired his phaser, forcing the figure to drop his weapon. Being able to get a clean shot, Roman fired his weapon and hit the Vidiian in the back making him crumble to the ground. As the Shield walked forward to secure their soon to be prisoner, Harry reached down and picked up, the alien's dropped weapon. It was a curious two-pronged design. Before he could examine it any further Tom's voice interrupted his thoughts.

**Voyager to Captain Kim.**

"Go ahead." Harry said as he watched as Roman and Dean lifted up the fallen Vidiian. He wanted to scream like a little girl as he saw the aliens gruesome face. Neelix wasn't kidding when he said that species was falling apart.

**We've just picked up an alien ship leaving the planet.** Tom informed him.

"Tractor them Commander."

**Sorry, Captain. They went into warp too quickly.**

"Beam us back and as soon as we're aboard lay in a course for pursuit. Maximum warp."

**Aye Captain.**

Sickbay

"I can't wait for you to take me to the holodeck for my horseback riding lessons." Neelix babbled as he held Lyssa's hand. He was so happy that her surgery was a success that he could just burst.

"And I look forward to... forward to taking you." Lyssa stuttered out.

"Visiting hours are over." the Doctor interrupted as he walked over to them. "She needs rest."

"Well ummm, when can I come back?" Neelix asked as he stood up from his stool.

"Seventeen hundred hours." the Doctor answered. "Not a minute before."

"I'll see you then." Neelix replied as he squeezed Lyssa's hand and gave it a gentle kiss on her forehead before walking out of the room, not noticing that Kes was staring daggers at the back of his head.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kiss you, I'm only adjusting the restraint." The Doctor told Lyssa as he reached across her head.

"I'll try to contain my disappointment." Lt. Campbell replied with a roll of her eyes as Kes started to chuckle.

The Brig

"I would offer to beat this poor smuck to death but it looks like somebody already beat me too it." Roman muttered as the Vidiian started to stir on the bed.

As he opened his eyes and saw the human, he jumped up as Harry walked into the cell and narrowed his eyes. "Before you ask, you're on the Starship Voyager. I'm Captain Harry Kim of the United Federation of Planets."

"I'm Dereth, of the Vidiian Sodality." Dereth replied as he stared deep into Captain Kim's eyes and saw nothing but hatred. Honestly he hated himself sometimes.

"All right Dereth, you attacked one of our crew members and you..."

"We were gathering replacement organs and suitable bio-matter. It is the only way we have to fight the phage." Dereth answered.

"Yes, I know a little about your disease."

"It attacked our people over two millennia ago." Dereth went on. "It consumes our bodies, destroys our genetic codes and cellular structures."

"So you go around harvesting the bodies of other beings to replace your own tissues as they're consumed by this phage?"

"Our immuno-technology cannot keep up." Dereth continued. "The phage adapts. It resists all attempts to destroy it. Our society has been ravaged. Thousands die each day. There is no other way for us to survive. It must be impossible for you to understand how any civilized people could come to this. Before the phage began, we were known as educators and explorers, a people whose greatest achievements were artistic. I myself am a sculptor of note on my world. All I can say is that when your entire existence is at stake..."

"Let me make something perfectly clear." Harry cut Dereth off. "I don't care about your damned disease." As he said that Roman, Dean, and Rollins gave each other a look.

"Captain, maybe we could get the Doc too..."

"Hold your place Commander." Harry snapped his eyes blazing, before he turned back to Dereth. "You take a message back to your people. If you ever see a big grey ship that says Voyager on the side of it you get the fuck out of our way or you'll be met with the deadliest of force. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." Dereth blinked as he swallowed the long blackened lump that was in his throat.

"Captain, Commander Paris wanted me to tell you that we've located the Vidiian ship and we have it tractored on our port side." B'Elanna said as she walked into the room and grimaced as she saw Dereth.

"Good." Harry replied, not taking his eyes off of their prisoner. "B'Elanna, I want you to take this, analyze it, and adapt it to our tricorders since it's far more superior to our scanning technology." Harry said as he handed her the Vidiians weapon that he picked up on the planetoid. "And Commander Rollins, I want you to escort Mr. Dereth to the Transporter room and beam him back over to his ship. Before you let him leave, I want you to download all of their star charts and their tactical and weapons capabilities into Voyagers database."

"Ye... yes sir." Rollins stuttered as he gave Roman and Dean a nod. Standing to his feet, Dereth was led out of the room.

"Harry are you... are you all right?" B'Elanna asked as she lightly touched his face. Flinching away from her touch, he started to walk towards the door.

"Tell Commander Paris that he has the bridge." Harry called over his shoulder. "If anybody needs me, I'll be in my room." and with that he walked out of the room.

Harry's Quarters

Later that night

Not feeling in the mood to play his clarinet, Harry sat it down on his desk and as he stood to his feet his door chime sounded. "Come in." Fully expecting it to be B'Elanna, his eyebrow went up as he saw that it was Isis. "Counselor." he greeted with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Captain." Isis replied with a smile of her own. "I... I wanted to ask permission to speak to you frankly."

"We're off duty." Harry told her as he gestured for her to sit down on his light brown couch. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No sir." she answered calmly. "I... I just wanted to chat with you for a few minutes. I wanted to say that I'm worried about you."

"Why?" Harry asked with a dry chuckle.

"Commander Rollins told me what you said to that Vidiian and sir... that's not like you and that's not Starfleet's way."

"Did Commander Rollins also tell you what that thing did?" Harry asked hotly. "If it wasn't for Doctor Zimmerman, Lyssa could have died today."

"I know about that Captain... I... I just think you're burning the candle at both ends." Isis deduced.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is... on this ships first mission you were thrown into a dangerous situation and you had to become the Captain of this ship from being an Ensign." the Counselor went on. "Even though you got us through that situation with the Kazon and you've gotten us this far, that's a lot of stress for anybody to take. I want you to personally know that you saved my life and I'll gladly give that life up to keep you from falling into darkness."

"But my intentions are good and I only want to protect this crew."

"Then protect them." Isis said as she touched his cheek. "But do it the Starfleet way. Do it the right way because you know what they say about good intentions."

"They can pave a road to hell." Harry finished.

"I know you feel guilty about still being alive and everyone else dying." Isis whispered into his ear as she pulled him into a deep hug. "Just open up a little and let me... let this crew help you."

"I'm just so tired." Harry said defeated as she let him go and he ran a hand loosely through his hair.

"Then get some rest." Isis replied with a smile. "We'll still be here tomorrow."

With that said Isis walked out of his quarters. Walking to his bedroom, Harry stared at his clarinet for a full minute before putting it away. As his head hit the pillow of his bed, for the first time in awhile he slipped off into a peaceful sleep. The weight of the world seemed like it was balanced on everyone's shoulders and not just his own.

Dereth's Ship

At the same time

"That species seemed very dangerous." Motura said as he piloted Dereth's ship. "And who knows how many of those Federation ships are out here. Perhaps we should warn the Vidiian Sodality to stay away from them."

"No, it's my belief that they're out here alone." Dereth replied after a minute of thinking. "Even though they know our weapons capabilities, I believe that we should only warn the Vidiian Sodality that before they engage Voyager to call for reinforcements. Besides we have to think of the Federation as one thing."

"Which is?"

"Body parts." Dereth answered as their ship blasted off into the black.

* * *

><p>AN To Ghostrobo, you're kinda right about your assumption about the alternate reality. It's kinda like a butterfly effect, sorta like what if x and y equaled z. In this case what if Janeway stood here instead of there getting her killed when they were dragged to the Delta Quadrant. To Guest, let me say thanks for the review and let me answer your questions. I've chosen to use someone from TNG, but right now I have to go back through those chapters to make it believable to bring him in. I think you'll like the choice I made. I'm going to explore what happened to the Maquis in some later chapters and it actually correlates with the new person coming in. I actually forgot all about Tal, so maybe I'll give her a brief cameo. I just don't have enough material for everybody so that's why I haven't used certain people.

No Lyssa isn't related to Malcolm, at least not that I know of, I used her information from memory alpha and it didn't say anything about that. However she is related to someone of importance that will be in a crossover I have planned but I can't say WHO. Bray is a creature that's a by product of a race of giants that was talked about in an TNG episode, it'll be discussed in a later chapter and you'll see what I mean. Basically from what happened to him he went to world after world and saw people destroying themselves and since he had powers he stepped in and tried to become their God, only to still lead them into destruction. He was doing that for centuries until he finally got caught. I don't know if you ever saw the show Angel (it was a spin off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but he's similar to a character called Jasmine.

You know it's funny that you bring up Seska, I've had this story idea in my head for ages to do a story on her early life and then ending when she joins up with Chakotay and the Maquis. Basically the story would end where Voyager started off. It's going to talk about how badly she was treated and why she became the way she was on the show. I would have done it a long time ago but I was afraid that no one would support it because everyone hates her so much. The way I would have wrote her would have made people feel sorry for her and maybe even cry a little. lol.


	19. Chapter 18 Helm of Command pt 1

A/N I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and had a good Christmas. Also the mystery character will appear soon.

Chapter 18

Helm of Command pt. 1

Holodeck One

Neelix smiled a toothy smile as he rode his brown horse. He couldn't explain why it was so exhilarating to ride the beast but for the first time in a long time he felt totally free. He was also happy that they gained some star charts from the Vidiians because it showed them a planetoid that did have dilithium on it, which allowed them to do what they were doing now.

Looking to his right, he saw Lyssa looking forward enjoying herself and riding a black stallion. Judging by the look of bliss that was on her face, she hadn't rode in awhile. Chancing a glance to his left, his eyes went wide as he saw that Kes was falling behind and it looked like she was about to fall off of the horse she was riding on.

"Whoa... boy... whoa." Neelix said as he pulled the reins on his horse and made it slow down. "Sweetie are you all right?" he asked as he fell into step with her and her horse.

"I'm... I'm fine." Kes told him. "I just... I just don't think I'm cut out for this. I'm going to go back to the hydroponics bay."

"Well have a nice time." Neelix told her as he saw Lyssa waiting for him in the distance. "I'll catch up with you later but right now, I'm having too much fun."

Not waiting for her to reply, Neelix likely tapped his horse on the side and he sped off to where Lyssa was waiting for him. With narrowed eyes, Kes watched the both of them and frowned. She didn't know what was going on with Neelix and Lyssa Campbell, but she didn't like it. Deleting the horse she was riding on, she called for the arc and walked off of the holodeck.

* * *

><p><em>First Officer's Log Supplemental: Counselor Isis, Ensign Ahni Jetal and I have just negotiated safe passage through alien space and now we're going to rendezvous back with Voyager.<em>

USS Drake

"Hey Ahni, how far are we from our rendezvous coordinates with Voyager?" Tom asked as he walked into the cockpit.

"About another sixteen hours." Ahni replied as she checked her console.

"Good, let me know when you get tired and I'll take over." Tom replied as he placed a hand on the back of her chair.

"Aye sir." Ahni replied as he sat down next to her. She wished that he would stop treating her like a little girl. If she were tired she'd just let him know like any other officer would.

"Don't call me sir right now." Tom said as he let out a yawn and brushed his hands through his hair. "For now just call me Tom." he said as he let out another yawn. He had been giving Ahni a hard time for awhile now, but he decided to give her a little leeway because he was so tired at the moment.

"Will you stop with all of that yawning." Isis said as she walked towards Tom and slapped him on the back of the head, before yawning herself. "You know it's contagious."

"Ow!" Tom yelped as he tenderly touched the back of his neck where she hit him. "Hey, I'm tired. I was the one who was up all day talking to those dignitaries. You were the one flirting with them."

"I can't help that I'm popular." Isis mockingly scoffed. "Besides, if there had been any female dignitaries you would have been all over them."

As the two argued, Ahni could do nothing but smile. It was so obvious that Counselor Isis and Commander Paris liked each other that you would have to be blind not to see it. That's why some of the crew had placed bets on when they would get together and she was currently in the lead with guessing that they would get together within another couple of weeks. If only something would come along that would push them together.

Hearing her console beep, Ahni rushed to silence it. "Ummm, sir we're receiving a distress signal."

"Source?" Tom asked as he dropped his smile and turned to his own console.

"It's coming from a red desolate planet... half a light year away." Ahni reported.

"Set a course for the planet." Tom ordered. "Warp two."

After a short ride the USS Drake hovered over a very large red planet.

"Are you picking up any life-signs?" Tom asked as he stared at the planet.

"I can't tell." Ahni replied as she worked her controls. "There's too much electromagnetic interference coming from the atmosphere."

We don't have transporters aboard this shuttle. Tom thought to himself. "Take us into a lower orbit and then scan for life-signs." he finally said after a few moments of inner debate. "If we don't pick up any life-signs we'll resume our course back to Voyager."

"Aye... I mean okay Tom."

"Ah, ah, ah missy." Tom playfully chided. "We're on the clock now because of you, so go back to calling me sir."

"Aye sir." Ahni said as Isis started to chuckle.

As the tiny shuttle descended into the upper atmosphere, it began to quake violently. Checking the controls himself, Tom suddenly leaned over and whispered to the younger woman. "You got this Ahni. Just take it easy on the lateral thrusters and..." before he could finish his sentence, they all heard a loud pop followed closely by an explosion.

"That didn't sound good!" Isis yelled from the back of the small compartment.

"That's because the port nacelle just exploded." Ahni reported.

"I don't mean to doubt your abilities but I think we have a better chance at landing if I take the helm." Tom said as Ahni gave him a look after he switched helm control over to his console. "Both of you buckle up. Ahni dispatch an automated distress signal to Voyager!"

With a frustrated sigh Ahni quickly worked her console so she could record a message and send it to Voyager. It was a quick and simple message but seeing as how they didn't have much time before the ship hit the surface, she just hoped that it would do the trick.

Turning back towards Isis, Ensign Jetal only had a split second to watch as the Counselor gripped the arm rests of her seat before doing so herself. Letting out a cry, she closed her eyes to brace for impact. Even though Tom was one of the best pilots in either the Delta or Alpha quadrants despite his best efforts of managing to slow the ship's descent, the USS Drake still hit the sandy soil hard, making all three of the officers bodies fling about in the tiny cabin as the shuttle tore a bloody path through the sand and what little neighboring trees were around it. In mid slide, the already damaged port nacelle was ripped off, followed closely by the starboard nacelle which flew high in the air and exploded in the distance. Finally slowing down a jolt was sent through what was left of the shuttle making Tom, Ahni, and Isis fly from their seats as the shuttle finally stopped with a loud twisting sound of metal.

Finally coming too, Ahni tasted something metallic in her mouth. Opening her eyes all the way up she spat the glob of blood that was forming in her throat, to the deck. As the smoke from the burning console to her side started to dissipate, she blinked and tried to take in her surroundings. The over head lights seemed to be flickering on and off, just like the consoles. Her mind finally catching up to her, she realized she was on the floor. Taking another look around as she sat up, the young Ensign saw that the shuttle looked to be in utter disarray and she was forced to admit that she couldn't have landed the shuttle better than Commander Paris had done.

Commander Paris. Ahni thought to herself as she finally became fully alert. She suddenly realized that she didn't know what happened to him or to Counselor Isis for that matter. Standing to her feet, a sharp pain suddenly went up her leg. Seeing that she was thrown to the back of the shuttle, not having time to buckle up, she made it to the front and saw Counselor Isis still in her chair, seemingly coming too. Not seeing anything physically wrong with her, she moved on and saw Commander Paris slumped over his console.

He had plasma burns that covered his hands and his face and from what she could tell it didn't seem like he was breathing. Fearing the worse, she went to a side panel and pulled out a emergency med-kit and took out a tricorder and started to run the scanner over his body. To her immediate relief, he was still alive. The burns he had she could easily repair with a dermal regenerator but what worried her however was when she continued to scan him and found that he had several blood clots, a concussion, and several broken ribs that threatened to puncture his lungs and his heart. To make a long story short, if they didn't get back on Voyager soon, Commander Paris was going to die. Seeing him like that made her think. That could have been me.

As that realization dawned on her Tom's eyes suddenly fluttered open. "H... hi." he said with a crooked smile.

"Hi." Ahni said back, caught off guard. Before he could say anything else however, he passed out again.

"Tom." Isis said as she unbuckled her seat belt and stood to her feet. On wobbly legs, she walked over to them. "Tom? Oh my God is he okay?" she asked as she saw his face.

"No." Ahni whispered as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "He was badly injured in the crash and if he doesn't have surgery he could..."

"I understand." Isis replied as she put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "What about Voyager?"

"I'm not sure that our message was received and I won't be able to send out another one." Ahni replied as she nodded to the communications console that had blew out and placed Tom in this situation in the first place. "Our systems took heavy damage and there's no way to fix it."

"What.. what the hell are we supposed to do then?" Isis asked as she looked from Ensign Jetal to Tom.

That's a good question. Ahni thought to herself.

Wiping some sweat off of her forehead, she looked around the cabin, unsure of how they were going to get out of this one. All they could do was hold tight and try their best to survive on the planet at least until Voyager found them. The newest problem was, that they couldn't stay in the shuttle. She wasn't an Engineer but by the look of things the ship could blow at any time. Then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Before the ship crashed she saw a series of caves close or hopefully close to where they landed.

"First things first." Ahni answered as she scanned herself and then Isis. Luckily Ahni's left leg was just bruised and there didn't seem to be much wrong with the Counselor other then a migraine. "All right we need to gather as many supplies as we can and head for those caves I saw before we crashed."

"What about Tom?" Isis asked worriedly.

"We have to be careful but he's coming with us." Ahni said as she looked towards the same panel as before and lifted out a foldable stretcher that thankfully had wheels on it. Gathering a duffle bag that had food and water rations in it, Isis and Ensign Jetal carefully lifted Tom on the stretcher.

"How long do you really think we'll be here?" Isis suddenly asked as they moved to the back of the shuttle.

"There's no telling." Ahni responded after a moment of thinking as she reached up and opened the hatch. As the hot sun beat down on her, she suddenly shielded her eyes from the blinding rays. As her eyes started to adjust, she saw the series of caves in the distance. Taking a wild guess it was at least a mile away from where they were now. "I just hope we're not here too long."

Flipping open her tricorder, she picked up the readings she had gotten from before with the distress signal. They were coming from the caves they were about to go to now. At least if anything they wouldn't be alone. Giving a nod to Isis, the two clutched on Tom's stretcher and tried to hurriedly traverse the hot desert sand.

Voyager

Bridge

"Captain we're about an hour away from our rendezvous coordinates with the USS Drake but I'm not picking the shuttle up on long range sensors." Commander Rollins reported.

Knowing Tom he's probably somewhere joyriding. Harry thought to himself. "Keep scanning the area and let's see if they pop up when we get closer to the coordinates."

"Yes sir." Rollins replied with a nod.

Desert Planet

Tom felt something cool being placed upon his forehead. As if that was the spark that started it all it pushed him back to the realm of consciousness. Opening his eyes, he suddenly saw a pair of smoky blue eyes and tracing it down to Isis' lips, he saw that she was smiling at him.

"I thought you'd never wake up fly boy." Isis greeted as her voice caught.

"I feel like a shuttle pod hit me." Tom replied as he tried to touch his head, wincing with the effort. "Oh man, what the hell happened?"

"Try not to move too much you're seriously hurt." Isis said as she tried to get him to relax. "As for what happened... well let's just say your flying skills got us down here alive."

"Alive... Ahni... is she..."

"She's fine Tom." Isis cut him off as she restrained him with one hand, careful not to hurt his chest. "She's exploring the cave we're in now and she'll be back in a few minutes." as she said that, she told him all about abandoning the shuttle and how Ahni took charge and got them to the caves.

"Smart... smart girl." Tom stuttered out as he struggled to stay comfortable on the stretcher that they had made into a bed on the floor.

"Try not to move." Isis said as she stood to her feet. "I'll go and get you something to eat and something to ease your pain." As Tom gave her a nod, the Counselor moved off into another chamber and almost bumped into Ensign Jetal. "Anything?"

"The people who were here are long dead." Ahni whispered sadly. "I found the skeletal remains of a woman and two small children in a couple of chambers over. From the looks of it they've been dead for a little over four years."

"How did they die?" Isis asked as she crossed her arms over her shoulders. "It wasn't an animal attack or..."

"No it was nothing like that." Ahni assured. "I think they just starved to death."

"How much in the way of supplies did you say we had again?"

"Between the three of us we have enough food and water for another two days." Ahni guessed.

"Does Tom have that long?"

"I... I'll go and reactivate the distress beacon that the dead woman I found was using." Ahni replied, slightly changing the subject. "Just in case our signal didn't get through, at least Voyager will have something to work with."


	20. Chapter 19 Helm of Command pt 2

Chapter 19

Helm of Command pt. 2

"So tell me a little about yourself." Isis said to her counterpart as she made sure that Tom was sound asleep. "We rarely ever interact on Voyager and I realized that we don't ever speak to each other much."

"Well there's not much too tell." Ahni replied as she put away her eating utensils. "I'm from a small farm town on Earth called Colcord, Oklahoma. I left home at eighteen and joined Starfleet."

"Why Starfleet?" Isis cut her off.

"To be honest with you Counselor, I was bored." Ahni replied with a smile. "Every since I was a little girl I remember laying in the loft of my parents house late at night looking up at the stars and I had to know what was up there."

"So that's why you became a pilot?" Isis deduced.

"Exactly." Ensign Jetal replied with a chuckle. "I figured what was the point of coming out into space and not flying through it."

"Believe me I understand." Isis replied with a chuckle of her own. "After what the Borg did to..." stopping what she was about to say she cleared her throat. "So holding martial arts classes. That really doesn't seem like something you'd do. No offense but you're really a little mousy thing."

Not you too. Ahni thought to herself. Everybody always tries to underestimate me. "Don't let how I look fool you. I pack one hell of a punch." she replied as Isis gave her a look. "So tell me a little about you. You mentioned earlier something about the Borg?"

Before Isis could reply, Tom started to cough violently in his sleep. Quickly jumping up to her feet, Ahni ran over and started to scan him with her tricorder before turning his head so he could spit out a few goblets of blood. Grimacing at her findings as she continued to scan him, she picked up a hypospray and injected it's contents into his neck and watched as he went back to sleep.

"What's wrong with him?" Isis asked in a frightened whisper as she looked over Ahni's shoulder.

"A little blood was moving into his lungs so I let him spit it up." Ahni answered. "I sedated him so he could get some rest but if blood keeps going into his lungs like that..."

"Then he's going to die." Isis concluded.

"Not on my watch." Ahni replied as she snapped her tricorder closed and had a determined look in her eyes. "We only have enough medicine to sedate him one more time. If he wakes up and starts trying to move around sedate him again because he really needs to rest."

"Where are you going?" the red head Counselor asked as the younger woman walked past her.

"I'm going to see if I can somehow boost the radio signal from that device I found." Ahni told her as she walked out of the alcove, her voice bouncing off of the cave walls. "We're getting off of this planet one way or the other."

Voyager

Bridge

"I'm not detecting any debris." B'Elanna announced from her Engineering station as she turned to see the big red planet on the main viewer.

"Maybe the shuttle was tractored or transported somewhere." Commander Rollins suggested from Tactical.

"Scan the region." Harry said after a moment of thinking as he looked to Lt. Campbell. "Look for plasma emissions or EM displacements. Anything that might indicate another ship."

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Captain." Campbell replied after a few seconds of typing into her console. "Hydrogen, helium, space dust."

"There has to be something out there." Harry said in frustration. He couldn't lose Tom or any of his officers. Especially not now that he needed them so badly. "Shuttles don't just vanish into thin air." As soon as he said that Whumph! The ship started to lurch to one side, almost throwing the crew to the deck.

"It's some kind of gravimetric shear!" B'Elanna roared as alarms started to blare on her controls.

"Source?" Harry asked as he clutched onto his command chair.

"Unknown." Campbell reported.

"Red alert." Harry commanded. "Helm, full ahead."

"We're caught in some kind of subspace sinkhole." Campbell spoke up after the ship still moved downward. "It's pulling us in."

"And to add insult into injury the gravimetric shear is increasing." Rollins added.

Damn it. Harry thought to himself. "Go to warp."

"I can't establish a field." B'Elanna sadly reported.

"Then we need more power to the impulse engines." Harry said as he looked around at the others.

"That won't be enough." B'Elanna calculated, not even bothering to type the command sequence into her console. "We've got to find a way to counter the gravitational pull."

Think Harry. Think. Harry thought to himself. Use that Engineering brain. "B'Elanna, vent three million isodynes of plasma from the nacelles. Mr. Rollins, reverse shield polarity."

"We're clear." Campbell reported with a sigh of relief as the ship stopped shaking.

"Move us away." Harry said as he looked towards the helm. "Stand down red alert. Secure all stations. I'd say we have a pretty good idea what happened to that shuttle now."

After everyone rushed to do as he commanded, Samantha Wildman suddenly walked onto the bridge. Walking towards the command center, she gave Harry a look and he nodded his head and stood to his feet.

"Ensign Wildman, B'Elanna and Commander Rollins I'd like to see you in my Ready room." Harry said as they gathered what they needed and walked towards the door. "Lt. Campbell, you have the bridge."

"Aye sir." Lyssa replied as she sat down in his command chair as her relief took her place at OPS.

* * *

><p>"I've been monitoring the planet every since we got here, Captain." Ensign Wildman said as she took out her PADD and transferred it's information over to a view screen in the back of the room. "There's an anomaly that's approximately six hundred meters in diameter around the planet."<p>

"From the looks of it, it's out of phase with normal space." B'Elanna said as she at her findings. "I'm willing to bet that even after recalibrating the sensors, it'll barely register."

"The distortion circumscribes a subspace zone that includes a Type G sun and three planets." Wildman went on.

"Any sign of the shuttle?" Rollins asked.

"No, sir." Wildman told him sadly as she held her stomach.

"Then I think it's time to break out the multispatial probe." Rollins concluded as he gave the Captain a look.

"Agreed." Harry said after a moment of thinking. "In the meantime I want the planet monitored for life-signs, the shuttle, or any form of communication. No matter how vague the signature is. Dismissed."

"We're going to find them Harry." B'Elanna said as she put a hand on Harry's shoulder after everyone piled out of the room.

"I know." he replied as he put his hand on hers. "Now let's go and make sure that we do."

Inside the cave on the Red Planet

"Ahni!" Isis yelled out, her frantic voice bouncing off the walls of the cave. "Ahni!" she yelled again as the mousy woman ran from around the corner.

Looking at her surroundings, Ahni looked to the floor and saw Tom violently shaking on the ground. Picking up her tricorder she started to scan him.

"He started moving a few seconds ago and I gave him the last of the sedative like you told me too." Isis informed her. "What's..."

"He's going into shock." Ahni cut her off. Looking into the other woman's eyes she rushed to assure her. "This wasn't your fault. His condition is just getting worse." Oh God Voyager please come for us. As if a higher deity were watching out for them their com-badges suddenly chirped.

**Commander Paris can you hear me?** Harry's distorted voice asked over the com-line.

"This is Ensign Ahni Jetal." Ahni replied as she slapped at her com-badge. "It's good to hear your voice again sir."

**We received your distress signal but it's taking us a minute to triangulate your position for transport.** Harry went on.** Are there any casualties?**

"Yes sir. Commander Paris is severely injured." Ahni rushed to say. "Please beam us straight to Sickbay."

It took a few moments but Harry's reply came in loud and clear. **Standby for transport. We'll get you out of there in two minutes.**

Thank you God. Ahni thought to herself with a sigh as she stood to her feet and took off at a dead run.

"Ahni where are you going!?" Isis yelled out after her.

"I'm going to make sure that distress signal doesn't lure anyone else to this planet!" Ahni yelled back. And to make sure our extended family gets the hell off of this planet. She thought to herself.

* * *

><p><em>Captain's Log Supplemental: After rescuing the away team Doctor Zimmerman was able to do a series of surgeries on Commander Paris that thankfully saved his life. The first thing he told me as he woke up was that we need to design sturdier shuttles. We also gave the remains of the people Ensign Jetal found on the red planet a proper burial.<em>

_All wasn't lost however since we found a rich source of deuterium on the southern continent of the planet. In an effort for no one else to be lured to this planet we left behind a warning beacon, warning other ships to stay away from here._

Sickbay

Thankfully the lights were dim as Tom laid on the bio-bed half asleep. Thankfully the Doc told him that after another day of being stuck in Sickbay he could return to his quarters. Just the mere thought of being stuck in the room longer then that gave him a new found appreciation for Dcotor Zimmerman. Maybe just maybe he'd try a little harder to be nicer to the hologram.

Hearing the doors to Sickbay open and feeling a presence standing over him, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi."

"H.. Hi." Ahni squeaked out in surprise. "My shift just ended and I... I came to check on you."

"I'm glad you did." Tom said with a grimace as he struggled to sit up a little. "I wanted to say thanks for saving my life on that planet."

"I was just doing my job sir." Ahni replied dismissively.

"I'm not buying that." Tom told her, not losing his smile. "Can I tell you something? I was being hard on you this whole time because I... I thought that you were weak and that you needed to toughen up a little. But after what Isis told me you did on that planet... I see now that I was a fool and you're a whole lot tougher then I gave you credit for. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for being rough on you and thank you and that I'll never forget what you did for me."

Her heart swelling up with pride all Ahni could do was give her superior officer a nod. Someone finally saw her. Someone finally believed in her. Tears threatening to fall from her eyes, she turned and walked out of Sickbay and almost bumped into Counselor Isis.

"What's wrong with her?" Isis asked with a grin as she pulled up a stool and sat down next to Tom.

"Nothing." Tom replied with a smile himself. "We were just getting some things straight."

Not fully understanding what he meant and not wanting to press the issue of what he was talking about Isis just sat with him and started to tell him what was going on with the ship and doing a little harmless flirting.


	21. Chapter 20 State of Flux

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. Keep them coming. Also Happy new year to every one.

Chapter 20

State of Flux

_Captain's Personal Log Stardate: 48610.1: It's been a few weeks since Commander Rollins and B'Elanna went to Sikaris and stole a technology that could have taken us back to the Alpha Quadrant. With our luck however the device didn't even work. At the moment I'm not sure what I'm more disappointed about. The fact that the device didn't work or that my girlfriend was a part of a conspiracy to take alien technology. Even though I want to get home and was secretly hoping that we could get our hands on that technology, we represent the full body of the Federation and I gave my word to represent it._

_Still, I've been distant more towards B'Elanna then Commander Rollins as of late. It's going to be a long trek back to the Alpha Quadrant and I can't let what happened stop the love I have for her, no matter how disappointed I am. That's why I decided to spend the day with her since both of us have time off. On a lighter note, on my daily visit to see Lt. Stadi, the Doctor informed me that she has increased brain activity. He also believes that because of it, she'll more then likely wake up soon._

Harry's Quarters

So this is how she wants to spend time together? Harry thought to himself as his girlfriend opened a small brown bag and took out an ancient looking device before placing it on the floor.

"Pick out two things that are personal to you and have a seat on the floor." B'Elanna told Harry as he walked around his quarters and picked up his clarinet and a happy picture of both of them on a nice sunny day.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Harry asked as he placed the items on the floor before sitting down himself.

"I've seen Chakotay do this tons of times." B'Elanna replied as she sat cross-legged on the floor and put her hand on the replicated Akoonah before she considered. "Well, I've seen him do this a dozen times... maybe two times but it looked easy enough."

"I don't know about this." Harry said as she placed a hand on his. "Isn't this a little... sacrilegious?"

"Look Harry, nothing bad is going to happen." B'Elanna tried to assure him. "I've seen Chakotay do this before and all I want is for you to talk to your animal guide."

Seeing the look in her eyes, all Harry could do was feel sorry for her. He knew that she missed her friend Chakotay and he pondered on if this was B'Elanna's a way of preserving the other man's spirit and the spirit of his people by keeping this practice alive. "Okay." Harry replied after a moment of thinking. There was something he just had to know. "How was it when you met your animal guide?"

"I umm... I tried to kill it." B'Elanna mumbled making Harry cough.

"What?"

**Captain you're needed to the bridge.** Rollins voice said over the com-line. **There's something you really need to see.**

"I'm on my way." Harry said as he stood to his feet. "We'll try this again later. I promise." he said as he looked at B'Elanna a moment longer before walking out of the room.

Sickbay

Doctor Zimmerman and his new assistant Kes hovered over a red shirt with a sore wrist. Searching in his memory files under the list of crew members on the ship, he recognized him as Lt. Walter Baxter.

"It started acting up a couple of days ago." Lt. Baxter said to Kes as he moved his wrist around a little and winced. "I'd been working out in the gym, maybe I overdid it."

"Is it sore here?" Doctor Zimmerman asked as he touched his wrist.

"Yes." Baxter replied with another wince.

"Localized tenderness to the ulna bone, no epidermal damage, moderate oedema." The Doctor muttered as he looked over at Kes. "What are the possible diagnoses?"

"Epicondylitis, strained ligament, torn muscle and hairline fracture."

"That's exactly right." the holographic doctor replied, clearly impressed.

"I've studied all the material you gave me." Kes said with a smile. She loved working in the hydroponics bay, but she got so much more fulfillment in Sickbay. "I'm ready for more."

"Good." The Doctor said with a nod. "There's a great deal more for you to learn. The tricorder indicates this is a small stress fracture."

"Can this guy do everything a real doctor does?" Baxter asked rudely as he stared over at the Ocampa woman.

"Yes, he can." the Doctor answered for himself as he handed a device over to Kes. "Activate it and direct the beam here." he instructed as Kes ran the beam over the lieutenants arm. "That's it. Not quite so fast."

"If I had to get treatment for something serious, if I needed surgery for instance, would he be performing it?" Baxter again directed his questions to Kes.

"Of course, and quite expertly too." the Doctor told him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know." Baxter considered. "I'd have to think twice about that."

"Fine." Doctor Zimmerman replied nonchalantly. "And if you were lucky you wouldn't die on the table while you were making up your mind. That should do it. How does it feel?"

"Not bad." Baxter said as he moved his arm around and hopped off of the bio-bed. "Thanks." he called over his shoulder as he walked out of sickbay.

"Doctor, did you notice how rudely that officer treated you?" Kes asked as the Doctor walked into his office and sat down.

"Not more so than most." he replied as he entered the injury report into his files.

"You mean others act that way too?" Kes asked with concern.

"Let's just say I've become accustomed to being treated like a hypospray." the Doctor replied as he handed her a PADD. "Now, here's some material on first aid for burns."

"Doctor, I think I'd like to do more than study first aid." Kes said as she took the PADD she was given. "I'd be interested in knowing more about anatomy and physiology."

"You're intellectually curious. I like that." the Doctor replied with a grin as he picked up some more PADDs. "These deal with human anatomy and physiology, but they weren't written for the layman. They're quite technical."

As he said that Kes looked over the set of PADDs. "I understand. I'll do my best. And I really appreciate your help." Kes said as she turned to leave. If the Doctor wouldn't defend himself, she would do it herself.

Bridge

"Report." Harry ordered as he walked onto the bridge.

"Captain we've found a body floating in space." Rollins reported as Harry sat down next to Tom and Isis.

"What's so significant about that?" Harry asked, knowing that other races probably did the same thing that they did when someone died.

"It's significant because it's the body of a Kazon sir." Rollins went on. "And if my readings are right his body has a Federation Transporter signature on him."

"What?" Harry asked as he turned to look at his second officer. Could there be another Federation ship out here? He questioned himself.

"Mr. Rollins is it possible to beam the body on board without destroying the previous signature pattern on it?" Tom asked.

"It's possible." Rollins replied as he looked to Lyssa for confirmation. "But I'd feel better if we just tractored it into the Cargo bay."

"Tractor it in then." Harry replied as he stood to his feet. "Tom inform the Doctor about what's going on and tell him to be prepared to examine a body. Mr. Rollins do a scan and tell me the second a Kazon ship or any ship for that matter comes into the system. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Ready room."

Ready room

Not knowing whether to smile or frown, Harry giddily sat down at the table. It was an overwhelming feeling that another Federation ship could possibly be in the Delta Quadrant but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Standing to his feet, he was about to get something to drink when his door chime sounded.

"Come in." Harry said as he turned to the door, surprised who had come through it. "Kes, it's good to see you. How can I help you today?"

"Am I interrupting?"

"No, not at all." Harry replied as he walked up to the replicator. "I was just going to have a cup of coffee. Would you like anything?"

"Ah, spinach juice with a touch of pear, please." Kes replied. Seeing that Harry was giving her a look, she clarified. "Commander Paris introduced me to it, it's very nutritious."

"Knowing Tom, I'm sure it is." Harry replied with a smile as he turned back to the replicator. "Computer, one spinach juice with a touch of pear and one cup of coffee, black." as the drinks materialized on the replicator pad Harry took them and handed Kes her drink. "So tell me... I haven't seen Neelix around in awhile. How are you two doing?"

"I.. ummm... we... we're doing fine." Kes stuttered. In reality they weren't doing fine. She couldn't understand it but she was jealous of Neelix talking to Lt. Campbell and now they argued constantly."I... umm.. I just wanted to know if there were a member of the crew whose needs weren't being met, would you want to know about it?"

"Of course, I'd want to know." Harry replied as his eyebrows scrunched together in concern. "Kes, do you and Neelix feel that your needs are being ignored?"

"Oh no, of course not, we're very happy here." Kes replied. "I'm referring to the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Harry asked in confusion. "What about him?"

"I don't understand why people treat him the way they do."

"Exactly how do people treat him?" the Captain asked as he took a sip of coffee.

"As though he doesn't exist. They talk about him while he's standing right there. They ignore him. They insult him."

"Well since you've brought it up, I've been hearing the exact opposite about him." Harry cut her off. "Most of the crew have complained that the Doctor is rude and that he lacks any bedside manner. We've been talking about reprogramming his personality matrix."

"You can do that?" Kes asked as she took a sip of her own drink. "It doesn't seem right."

"Kes, in case you haven't realized he's only a hologram."

"He's also your Medical Officer." she countered. "He's alive."

"Kes, I know he might seem alive but believe me he's not."

"He's self aware, he's communicative, he has the ability to learn."

"Because he's been programmed to do that."

"So because he's a hologram he doesn't have to be treated with respect or any consideration at all?"

"You're right." Harry replied after a moment of thinking. Seeing how passionate she was about this he looked at her deep in her eyes. "I'll look into it."

"That's all that I ask." Kes said as she finished her juice and stood to her feet. "Thank you, Captain."

"You're welcome." Harry replied as he watched her walk out of the room. Finishing his coffee, he took both cups and put them in the recycler. Deciding the hell with it, he walked out of the room himself because he needed to see how the Doctor was doing with the Kazon body anyway.

Sickbay

As Harry entered Sickbay, he looked around and saw that the place was deserted, sans Lt. Stadi and the Kazon body.

"Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." The Doctor said as he shimmered into existence.

"Actually there is no emergency, Doctor." Harry replied as he walked over to him.

"Well, that's good." Doctor Zimmerman said in irritation. "I was right in the middle of examining the Kazon body when Ensign Kyoto deactivated me."

"Well, I'm sure she didn't realize you were busy." Harry replied with a smile, hoping that it would release some of the tension in the room. With his luck it didn't work.

"What is it you want, Captain?" The Doctor finally asked as he picked up a medical tricorder.

"Actually, I was hoping that we could just talk for a minute."

"About what?"

"Well Doc, you were originally programmed to serve in emergency situations only." Harry started as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now you're being asked to do much more."

"That's certainly true." The Doctor replied proudly. "I'm providing full time medical service for the entire ship's crew, functioning both as doctor and nurse, and now as an instructor as well."

"That's because you don't have the luxury of thinking of yourself as am Emergency Medical Program any more. You're a full-fledged member of the crew now."

"I see." the Doctor replied with a sigh. "Are you suggesting that I be re-programmed?"

"No. I'm asking if there's anything I can do to help you."

"Help me?"

"If there's anything you need, or want, I'd like to see that you get it." Harry clarified.

"What I'd like is to be turned off when people leave." The Doctor said as he crossed his own arms over his shoulder. "I spend hours here with absolutely nothing to do. When someone does remember to deactivate me they do so without asking if it's convenient. It's extremely irritating."

"What if I gave you control over your deactivation sequence?" Harry offered. Hologram or not it was the least he could do.

"I beg your pardon?" the Doctor asked, believing that his hearing subroutines were malfunctioning.

"I'm sure B'Elanna or Lyssa can make it possible for you to turn yourself off, or to prevent being turned off." Harry considered.

"I, I might like that." the Doctor said perking up a little.

"I'll have someone look into it then." Harry said hoping that was it. "Anything else?"

"I'm not sure, I'll have to give it some thought."

"You do that." Harry said as he turned all business like. "Before you were turned off what did you find out about our friend over here?"

"Well, I can conclusively say that Commander Rollins was wrong." the Doctor said as both of them walked over to the dead Kazon's bio-bed. "The transporter signature is from a quadrant of space close to the alpha quadrant but it isn't from the Federation."

"Then what species is it from?" Harry asked in surprise.

"The signature is from a Klingon vessel."

"What?" Harry asked with wide eyes. Before the Doctor could say anything further the ship shook lightly and slipped into red alert.

**Captain, you're needed to the bridge immediately.** Tom said frantically over the com-line.

"I'm on my way." Harry replied as he tapped at his com-badge. "Thanks for your help Doctor."

"Any time." Doctor Zimmerman mumbled as Harry ran out of the room.

Bridge

"Report." Harry instantly said as he walked off of the turbolift.

"We're surrounded by three Kazon Predator type ships." Tom answered as he got up from the command chair and let Harry sit down.

"How the hell did they sneak up on us?"

"I can't explain it sir." Rollins answered as he worked his controls. "They just popped up on our sensors."

"We're being hailed by the lead vessel sir." Lt. Campbell spoke up.

"Put it on screen." Harry replied nervously as a smiling Kazon male appeared on the main viewer.

"I am First Maje Jal Culluh of the Kazon-Nistrim." Culluh said as he eyed the bridge crew, finally stopping his gaze on Harry. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"I'm Captain Harry Kim of the USS... Voyager." Harry replied, saying the last part out hesitantly but then it wasn't like the Kazon couldn't read what was on the hull of the ship. He did notice however that Culluh's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Well, I admit that we were searching for another vessel at the moment but we've been looking for you for quite some time." Culluh replied as his eyes narrowed, but still with that same smile on his face. "Your little ship was responsible for hundreds of Kazon lives in the Ocampa system."

"I guess saying sorry is out of the question now?" Tom asked as the Kazon leader gave him an irritated glare.

"Hardly." Culluh mumbled as he looked back to Harry. "The first shot that we fired at your vessel was merely a warning shot. I assure you the next one won't be. Drop your shields and prepare to be boarded."

"That'll be the day." Harry replied with a frown. "Mr. Rollins bring the weapons systems online and if the Kazon so much as make an aggressive move towards us blow them out of the water. Ensign Jetal, with all due respect I need my best pilot at the helm. Tom take her place."

"You have your best pilot at the helm sir." Tom defended his protege'. "Ahni can do this, but if it'll make you feel better, I'll feed her course corrections."

"Okay." Harry said as he looked between them.

"You've made a grave mistake." Culluh growled as he blipped off the main viewer.

Voyager shook with the impact of the combined fire power of all three Kazon vessels. Returning fire, Voyager dipped and pivoted around, before going under one of the ships and blasting away at the Kazon's shields. Managing to hit a weak spot, they managed to get a few clean hits directly on it's weapons array, which exploded and sent a shockwave through the vessel, making the power shut down.

"That was impressive flying, Jetal." Harry complemented.

"Let's hope that it holds up." Rollins said as his hands danced along his console. "That ship will regain power soon and we still have two more to deal with."

As if to prove his point one of the other Kazon vessels came around the ship and Voyager took another volley of energy weapons right to it's bow. The ship shook so hard that Harry was thrown out of his seat as his side console exploded.

That was a Maquis maneuver. Tom thought to himself. All of their little tricks and how they got into this system were. How the hell did they pull that off? "Report!" Tom shouted as he got to his feet and saw that his best friend was on the floor and knocked unconscious. Rolling him over, he saw that he was bleeding from his forehead but was still breathing. "Get him to Sickbay." he told an Ensign that had walked onto the Bridge. Seeing that they had gotten Harry out of the way, Tom looked over to Rollins for his report.

"They managed to severely weaken our forward shields!" Rollins yelled out, fighting to be heard over the steam that shot out of a plasma conduit behind him. "They haven't managed to do much damage to our advanced hull plating but they did knock out one of our forward torpedo launchers."

"Ahni, get us out of here!" Tom shouted, as he sat back down in the Captain's chair.

"I can't sir." Jetal replied frantically as she turned to look at him. "The Kazon have us boxed in."

Damn it. Tom thought to himself.

"Sir a vessel just decloaked off of our port bow." Lt. Campbell reported. "And it's firing on the Kazon vessels."

"Put it on screen." Tom ordered as he saw a Klingon bird of Prey taking on and destroying one of the Kazon ships. What the hell are the Klingons doing out here?

"Sir the Kazons are in retreat." Rollins reported. "The Klingon vessel is now hailing us."

As Tom gave the order to place it on screen, his hands clenched tightly around the arm rests of his chair. "What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

><p>Harry felt a warm and gentle hand running through his hair. As the slender fingers then touched his face, he heard a husky voice whisper into his ear. "Harry it's time to wake up."<p>

Waking up with a start, Captain Janeway's voice still in his ears, Harry sat up in a bio-bed and looked around as his surroundings. As B'Elanna ran into his arms, he saw Tom talking to Lt. Stadi, a black Vulcan male, a tall Klingon male wearing a Starfleet uniform and a man with a tribal tattoo on his face.

"What happened?" Harry asked as he got off of the bio-bed and everyone looked at him. "Who are you people?"

"My name is Chakotay." the man with the tattoo spoke in a calm voice. "And we have a lot to discuss, Captain."


	22. Chapter 21 The Missing Months pt 1

A/N Thanks for those reviews guys. This chapter takes place the day Chakotay was transported back to his ship from the Caretakers array.

Chapter 21

The Missing Months pt 1

Day 1

His mind filled with a deep haze, Chakotay suddenly found himself back on board the Val Jean. With a groan his hand went up to his head so he could massage his temples, but he still had enough wherewithal to check his ships chronometer. His eyes widening slightly, he saw that he and his crew had been over to the array they had scanned for several days. He had to admit to himself that it hadn't seemed like nearly that long, but he vaguely remembered being poked and prodded on that alien vessel so there was no telling what really happened.

Hearing someone moan behind him, Chakotay looked back in his chair and saw Ayala, Chell, and Tuvok coming too. His mind finally clearing, he asked for a report. "Is everyone back on board?"

"Everyone that was alive when we were pulled to the Delta Quadrant is currently on board." Tuvok reported, being the first one to get a hold of himself. "Correction, there seems to be one crew member missing. B'Elanna Torres is not on board."

What the hell have they done with her? Chakotay thought to himself. "Scan the array."

"Our sensors can't penetrate it's hull." Ayala told him with a sigh. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

"I do not know if this has anything to do with our current situation but the array is shooting off energy pulses." Tuvok said as he worked his controls.

"What kind of energy pulses?" Chakotay asked as he turned to look at him.

"Unknown." Tuvok replied with a raised eyebrow. "However, the pulses are being shot from the array to the fifth planet of the neighboring system."

"Do you think those pulses have anything to do with B'Elanna being missing?" Ayala asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know but it's the only lead we've got." Chakotay said as he stood to his feet. "Ayala set a course for that planet. I'm going to walk the ship to organize repair crews. Tuvok you have the bridge."

* * *

><p>"Chakotay!" someone yelled out his name as he got off of the tiny turbolift and walked onto deck three and rounded a corner. Turning around he saw Seska and Lon Suder, exiting a room and coming towards him in a jog.<p>

"Chell just told us about B'Elanna." Seska spouted out as she stopped in front of him, panting. "Is it true that she's missing?"

"Yes." Chakotay replied through gritted teeth. He had wanted to tell the crew himself about B'Elanna but the resident blabber mouth beat him too it. Damn Bolian. "That's why I want you to take over Engineering until we can get her back."

"So you're telling me that we're going back to that array?" she asked, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She remembered a little about being over there and it still creeped her out.

"Yeah we are." Chakotay replied after a moment of thinking. "We're going to a planet now to follow a lead about getting B'Elanna back. After that we're going back to the array to figure out a way to go home."

"What if whatever is on the array won't take us home?" Suder asked.

Chakotay stared at the man for a second before he answered, because quite frankly he creeped him out. "Then we only have two choices. Either we try to force whomever is on the array to take us back to the Alpha Quadrant or... we take the long way home."

As Chakotay sadly started to walk away, fearing that they would indeed have to take the long way home, Seska suddenly put her hand on his shoulder. Turning back to her he gave her a nod before walking to his room. He had to go and meditate.

* * *

><p>"Captain we're approaching the planet." Tuvok reported as Chakotay walked back onto the bridge. As he sat down in the Captain's chair, the viewer kicked to life and a big yellow planet showed itself on the screen.<p>

"Are you picking up any com-traffic coming from the planet?" Chakotay asked.

"No, sir." Tuvok reported with a raised eyebrow, before looking up from his console. "It is a Class N planet."

"A Class N?" Chakotay asked as he whirled around in his chair and looked at the dark-skinned Vulcan. "Why the hell would that array be sending energy pulses to this planet?"

"Unknown." Tuvok replied as his console suddenly beeped. "An alien vessel is coming into this system. Captain, we're being hailed. Audio only."

With a nod from Chakotay a deep, scratchy, male voice boomed over the Maquis raiders speakers. "Unidentified ship, this is Jal Jabin of the Kazon-Ogla. You are in Kazon space. Come about and prepare to be boarded. If you surrender yourselves and your technology without a fight, everybody lives. If you don't, you and your entire crew will be killed."

"I am Chakotay, Captain of the Val Jean." Chakotay replied with a frown. "I'm not going to..."

"The alien vessel is charging weapons." said Tuvok. The Maquis raider shook under a sudden volley of weapons fire. Something important behind the captain's chair failed with a shower of sparks; that rained on the back of Chakotay's neck, each one stinging like a mote of fire.

"Seska!" shouted Chakotay over the open microphone to Val Jean's engine room.

**I know, God damn it!** Seska roared. Down below, the engineer yanked a panel off the wall and tore into the mess of jerry-rigged machinery that kept Val Jean alive, cursing in Bajoran and English.

Val Jean banked hard, faster than the inertial dampers could compensate. A'shadieeyah Mohammad, Chakotay's crackerjack pilot, was doing her best, trying to dodge the Kazon's weapons fire. Mohammad had gotten them out of more than her share of impossible jams, but this time these people were hanging tight.

"Weapons?" said Chakotay. It was more of a prayer than an order.

"Weapons would be nice." said Ayala, Chakotay's right hsnd man and OPS controller.

"I'm really not in the mood for jokes," said Chakotay.

"Weapons inoperative," said Tuvok.

"Seska, is there anything-"

**How about I stick a broom up my ass and sweep the floor while I'm at it?** said Seska.

"Seska, I need phasers!" Chakotay yelled back.

**How much do you need a warp core breach?**

"The Kazons are going to give me one anyway if you don't get those phasers online."

**They won't need to bother in a minute!**

"They don't need to wait that long!"

With a frustrated grunt Seska leapt out of her seat and dove into an open access hatch and started working on the weapons herself. Mohammad turned the ship again, but not in time to avoid a phaser hit amid ships. Every alarm on the bridge wailed to life at once.

"Shields have collapsed." said Tuvok.

**One more hit and we're done!** said Seska. **Chakotay, the phasers don't matter! We can't fight our way out of this.**

"Can you give me warp speed?" Chakotay suddenly asked.

**Are you crazy?** Seska asked.

"Can you!?"

**I can give you a few seconds.** Seska considered as she gave Hogan a look. **Maybe.**

Chakotay made a snap decision. "Tuvok, signal our surrender. Mohammad, straight ahead, one-quarter impulse. Keep us out of tractor range."

"What?!" said Mohammad and Ayala together.

"You heard me! Just do it; I have a plan. You don't think we're actually surrendering to the Kazons, do you?"

"I hope they think we're actually surrendering." said Ayala.

"They are acknowledging," said Tuvok. "They have ordered us to heave to and prepare to be boarded."

"Maintain course and speed. Mohammad, Seska, prepare for warp. Set course out of this system; maximum possible speed on my order. Seska, how are the phasers coming?"

**You've got one shot, maybe two.**

"Tuvok, target the Kazon ship." Chakotay ordered. "Manual aiming only; don't give anything away. Hit them as close to their bridge as possible."

"That will have little effect, captain."

"I just want to startle them. Any advantage we can get, right?"

"Understood." said Tuvok. He didn't sound convinced.

Seska walked onto the bridge, smeared with grease and grime, sheened with sweat, and bleeding from a cut on her forehead. With a motion so subtle nobody else on the bridge could have possibly seen it, she placed a hand on Chakotay's.

"This had better work," she said.

"It will."

"The Kazon ship is repeating its order to heave to," said Tuvok. "They are threatening to fire if we do not stop."

"Cut the thrust but keep the engines hot." Chakotay told him.

"They're closing in on us," said Mohammad.

"A'sha, prepare for full impulse on my command." Chakotay said as he looked forward.

"Tractor range in five seconds," said Tuvok. "Three seconds. Two. One."

"A'sha, punch it! Now!" Chakotay roared.

Val Jean leaped forward like a spurred thoroughbred. The Kazon ship grappling lines missed them by meters.

"Standby for warp on my mark!" said Chakotay as the Kazon ship came ever closer. "Fire phasers! Helm, engage!"

Val Jean fired two quick blasts at Predator, striking its shields just forward of its bridge. Then she leaped into warp and disappeared.

Seska had done better than she'd promised. They stayed at warp for twenty seconds, and momentarily hit warp six before the warp drive gave out.

"There is no sign of pursuit." Tuvok reported after a few seconds. "We are in the clear."

"Take us out of this system. Full impulse." Chakotay said in defeat. It was the long way home for them then and what made it so bad was that they could never go back to that planet with such a weak ship. By the Spirits, I'm sorry B'Elanna.

Predator

Jal Jabin growled as the alien vessel he was sent to catch, escaped out of his grasp. As he was about to order his helm operator to scan the area and set a pursuit course, he heard a beeping sound at his side. Turning, his communications officer told him that he had an incoming transmission.

Giving the order, he frowned as he saw First Maje Razik's face on screen. "Were you able to capture the alien vessel?"

"No Lord Razik." Jabin replied as he swallowed the spit that formed in his throat. "But I'm setting a pursuit course too..."

"Don't bother." Razik said cutting him off with a smile. "I've decided to reassign you. I'll send someone else to go after that ship."

He's enjoying this. Jabin thought to himself. "Where am I..."

"I'd like for you to go to Ocampa." Razik said cutting him off again. "I need someone that I... trust to oversee the mining operation on that planet."

Before Jabin could argue with the man, his operations officer suddenly shouted over at him. "Lord Jabin... you need to see this."

"What is it now?" Jabin asked as he threw the man an irritated glance.

"It's the Caretakers array my lord." the officer said as he looked up from his console and met his gaze. "All power has ceased functioning on the array."

"What?" Jabin asked in disbelief. As long as he had been alive the Caretaker was always up and running.

"Forget about the mining operation." Razik spoke up, interrupting his thoughts. "Investigate the Caretakers array. If anything has happened to it or whatever alien that might be on board, I want the array to be claimed by us."

"Yes my Lord." Jabin replied with a smile. Finally things were swinging his way.


	23. Chapter 22 The Missing Months pt 2

Chapter 22

The Missing Months pt. 2

The Val Jean

Day 4

Chakotay stepped into the mess hall of his ship and looked around at his crew. It had been a rough few days and honestly his crew was on the verge of starving since coming to the Delta Quadrant. If it wasn't for the raggedy replicator that he was currently walking towards, his crew would be dead already.

Hopefully Tuvok would come back with good news from the M class planet they were trying to negotiate with for supplies. Ordering a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of tea, he walked over to a table and sat alone to clear his head.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Seska asked as she sat down at his table with a bowl of soup.

"What?" Chakotay asked as he looked up at her, lost in said thoughts.

"I ummm... I said penny for your thoughts." Seska repeated. "I'm not all that great at human expressions but I think I said that one right."

"You did." Chakotay replied as he took a bite of his oatmeal. "I was just lost in thought for a second."

"Well are you going to tell me what those thoughts are?" Seska asked with a raised eyebrow. "The crew is restless. A lot of them think that you don't have a long term plan in trying to get us home."

"I don't." Chakotay told her in a whisper. "To be honest with you, I know for a fact that the Val Jean won't make the trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. If Tuvok doesn't come back with some good news we'll have to land this ship on the nearest M class planet and start a new life there. Gaah." Chakotay grimaced as he spat out his tea, that looked more like tar.

"Get used to that." Seska said with a chuckle. "I'm no B'Elanna." After nearly a minute she suddenly became serious and put her hand on his. "Chakotay there is another option."

"Oh?" Chakotay asked as he looked up at her again. "I'm all ears."

"We can try to negotiate with the Kazon. In exchange for our technology they can give us a better ship so we can get the hell out of here."

Before Chakotay could answer, Tuvok suddenly walked into the room. Looking back and forth from Seska to the Vulcan, he finally decided to look towards Tuvok. "Well?"

"The Tobari decided to assist us." Tuvok reported making Chakotay sigh in relief. "They are no longer space-faring because of the Kazon, but they will allow us to land our ship on their word to make repairs and they have agreed to give us food and medicine."

"Good." Chakotay replied as he looked to Seska for a brief moment. It was as if he were letting her know that things were looking up and that they wouldn't have to deal with the Kazon. "We'll set a course for the planet and gather supplies and do much needed repairs on the ship. Tuvok as it stands now, I want you to be my second in command."

"I agree to those terms." Tuvok said with a nod. "I will go to the bridge and set a course for the Tobari homeworld."

"Chakotay what are you thinking?" Seska asked as the Vulcan walked out of the room. She always believed that if anything ever happened to B'Elanna that she would be his second in command. "I thought you told me that you didn't trust him fully?"

"The way I see it out here we all have to stick together." Chakotay reasoned. "Besides, can you honestly tell me how many people on board are qualified to negotiate with alien races. At least that damn Vulcan can stay calm and keep a straight face."

"I guess you're right." Seska replied after giving what he said some thought. Then she smiled as she thought about how funny it would've been if she tried to negotiate with anyone peacefully. Something still didn't seem right about Tuvok but who was she to judge. "But we still need a new ship. I managed to fix the warp drive but you were right when you said that there was no way this old ship is going to make it back to the Alpha Quadrant."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes." Chakotay replied as he finished his food. "Now let's put on our happy faces and negotiate with some aliens."

* * *

><p>After a couple of hours, the Val Jean dropped out of warp and hovered over the Tobari homeworld. It was a pretty blue planet that reminded the Maquis of Earth. Checking in with their ground control, the tiny ship dove down into the planets atmosphere and landed into an open field. Seeing some blue skinned aliens surround the ship, Chakotay and a few others stepped off of the tiny raider.<p>

"I am To'mas." one of the aliens said as he stepped forward out of his group. "Any enemy of the Kazon is a friend of ours."

"I am Chakotay." Chakotay replied with a smile as he extended his hand for To'mas to shake. "I can already tell that we're going to be good friends."

After getting settled in on the planet and being assigned living quarters in the towns square, Chakotay and Tuvok started negotiating with their hosts. In exchange for food and medicine all the blue skinned aliens wanted in return was a copy of the Val Jean's literary database and as many hand phasers as the Maquis could spare.

* * *

><p>Sweat glistening off of her body and pouring off of her brow, Seska rolled off of Chakotay panting like a dog in heat. "That was... that was incredible."<p>

"You don't have to tell me." Chakotay replied slightly winded and with a chuckle. "I was there."

Putting her head on Chakotay's bare chest, Seska started to listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Feeling so comfortable and in the moment, she almost fell asleep, but sleep wouldn't have her at the moment because she had to know something. "Where do we go from here?"

"Mmmm." Chakotay responded, half asleep.

"Chakotay." Seska said as she sat up and shook his arm. Seeing that he was now fully awake, she asked her question again. "Where do we go from here?"

Giving it some thought, it was a whole minute before he responded. "Even if we do acquire another ship it's going to take us decades to get back to the Alpha Quadrant." he said as he sat up himself. "We'll need to have a replacement crew so if we meet aliens that want to come along with us on the way we'll bring them into the fold. I'll also have to tell the crew that we'll have to start a generational ship."

"Do you have any potential mates in mind?" Seska asked as she put his arm around her and laid back down on his chest.

"Just one." he replied with a smile. To be honest he was a but tired of Seska and her ways but out here in the wild it's not like he had much of a choice.

"Chakotay... I... I have a confession to make." Seska said suddenly.

"You look worried." he noticed as he squeezed her shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

"When I... when I was a child on Bajor, I had a virus known as Orkett's disease." Seska lied.

"Orkett's disease?" Chakotay questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I never heard of it."

Good. Seska thought to herself as she inwardly smiled. "Well it was a horrible disease that killed thousands of Bajoran children during the Occupation. It's funny that I spent my whole life hating Cardassians but an old Cardassian woman named Kattell took pity on me and gave me some of her blood and I received a bone marrow transplant from her."

"Is that your big secret?" Chakotay asked with a smile. "I hate the Cardassians too but they saved your life. There's no shame in that."

"Will there still be shame if your son or daughter comes out looking like one of them?" Seska asked sincerely. "The Federation doctor that I saw after the Occupation ended said that the bone marrow that Kattell donated to me had somehow mutated several cells in my body. He told me that if I ever had children that there was a strong possibility that they would come out looking Cardassian. So if we do have children do... do you think you can deal with them looking like our worst enemy?"

"Seska... I..."

**Captain you are needed to the Val Jean immediately.** Tuvok's impassive voice said through his communicator.

"I'm on my way." Chakotay replied as he leaned over the nightstand and tapped at his communicator. Giving Seska a look, he nodded letting her know that they would talk about this later.

Val Jean

Bridge

"Tuvok what's going on?" Chakotay immediately asked as he and Seska walked onto the bridge.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your... rest." Tuvok said diplomatically as he looked from the Captain to Seska. He could practically smell the sweat, lust, and desire coming from them. "But there are several vessels coming into the system. After scanning them they appear to be three Kazon type vessels."

"What?" Seska asked as she rushed over to OPS. "How the hell did they find us. Did the Tobari give us up?"

"I don't believe so." Tuvok replied with a raised eyebrow. "While the crew was relaxing on the planet, I stayed behind and monitored all com-traffic. There was nothing to indicate that there were any off-world transmissions."

"Then they were looking for us." Chakotay mumbled to himself. "How long to they get to the planet?"

"At current speed... fifteen minutes." Tuvok replied as he tapped at his Tactical console.

"What's the status of the ship and crew?" Chakotay asked as he sat in his Captain's chair.

"All crew are accounted for and all food and medicine have already been transferred and is in Cargo bay one." Tuvok reported as A'sha walked onto the bridge and sat down at helm. "However since we were only on this planet for a day and a half only minor repair was done to the ship. The bulk of what needs to be fixed would still take several weeks."

"We don't have several weeks." Seska spoke up. "Chakotay what are we going to do?"

"We're going to get the hell out of here." Chakotay replied. "Seska send a message to the Tobari and let them know that the Kazon are entering their system. A'sha..."

"I'm way ahead of you boss." A'sha replied as her fingers danced along her console.

"Chakotay to the crew, buckle up and prepare to leave the Tobari homeworld." Chakotay said into his communicator. "We're about to engage the Kazon."

As the small raider took a laboring lurch upwards, it only took a few minutes to get into space. Quite possibly as soon as they did, they almost ran smack dab into one of the Kazon scout ships, that weren't that much bigger then the Val Jean. Going into a roll, A'sha managed to get between them as Tuvok sent out a few phaser shots.

"Target Alpha has lost power and propulsion!" said Seska. "Bravo and Charlie are tracking us with radar."

"Going to warp!" said A'sha. Val Jean jumped away from the furious Kazons and came to a stop five light-seconds away. "Coming about, re-engaging warp!"

"Full power to forward phasers; target Bravo, fire on my command!" said Chakotay. Val Jean's warp engines pulsed again, and the Maquis were back in the battle space, with starboard hull of scout Bravo square in their sights.

"Fire!" said Chakotay.

Val Jean's pulse phasers tore into the Kazon scout. Her armor split open like an overcooked sausage as Val Jean flew by.

"A'sha, warp!" said Chakotay.

The whine of the warp engines powering up filled the cabin...and then cut off. An alarm sounded on A'sha's console. "Warp drive-"

Val Jean rocked with a hit to the aft shields from a Kazon coilgun. It was small caliber, compared to what the battleships carried, but it did its job against the battle-damaged raider.

"Evasive maneuvers! Tuvok, finish off Beta with aft phasers!"

A'sha cranked Val Jean into a breakneck turn away from the Kazons' guns as red-orange phaser beams played across the hull of Beta. Despite the damage from the first hits, it was still alive and fighting.

"Resetting warp injector controls," said Hogan over the engineering intercom. "Now! They're up again!"

A'sha lit up the warp drive again and this time it worked, hauling them away just before Beta and Charlie could tear them to pieces. They came to rest two light minutes away.

"Hogan, what's going on down there?" said Chakotay.

"The deuterium injector controller is malfunctioning" said Hogan. "The last time it did this, it took Torres three days to rebuild it. Captain, we can still go to warp, but we'll need thirty seconds to power up."

"That's too long," said Chakotay. "We can't hang around getting pounded for thirty seconds by those guns."

"We can't get pounded by those guns for ten seconds," said Seska. "The shields are barely at ten percent."

"Can we wipe out both scouts in ten seconds?" said A'sha.

"No," said Tuvok.

Seska then looked down at the sensor display at OPS. "Oh, and more good news: I think the Kazons sent a distress call. Three more scouts broke off from a fleet in the outer rim of this area and are coming here fast."

"Well, what do we do, then?" said A'sha. "By the time the shields are up again, we'll have five ships to deal with."

"If we could just buy a little time." said Chakotay. "Pull a Picard maneuver..."

"That won't distract them long enough." said Seska. As she said that, the ship was fired on again and the shields finally collapsed. "That was it." Seska warned. "The shields are gone."

"They have also attached some kind of grappling hook onto the hull." Tuvok reported. "Captain we're being boarded through the shuttle bay."

"Send a security detachment to take care of them." Chakotay replied as he saw the other Kazon scouts that appeared on the viewer.

What other efforts Chakotay tried to make didn't work however as the Kazon quickly seized the ship and had the Maquis on their knees. With a smile, Maje Cullah walked through the ship unimpressed as he made his way to the small bridge.

"Which one of you is the Captain of this vessel?" Cullah asked as he sneered at the two women in the corner before looking towards Tuvok and Chakotay.

"I am." Chakotay said bravely, even though he was currently on his knees.

"Good." Cullah replied as he leveled his rifle at him. "Then you will be the first of your people to die."

Good, my crew isn't dead. Chakotay thought loosely to himself as he narrowed his eyes. "Go ahead then. At least I'll have the pleasure of you dying with me."

"What do you mean?" Culluh asked as his own eyes narrowed. His finger hovering over the trigger of his weapon.

"Where we're from we're outlaws. So we rigged this ship to blow up if I or certain members of my crew are not on it at specific times or if we're killed." Chakotay lied. "So if you think you can kill me and still be able to get off of this ship in time then go ahead."

"I like your gull." Culluh replied with a smile as he raised his rifle up so that it pointed to the ceiling. "Your people obviously will do whatever it takes to survive. Fine, no death for any of you today."

"Good." Chakotay replied evenly as he inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "Now let's talk business."

"Ah, you're also an opportunist." Culluh laughed. "I'm listening. State your terms."

"I wanted to make a trade." Chakotay went on. "In exchange for our technology, we want a new ship and safe passage out of your system."

"Captain, might I remind you of the Prime Directive?" Tuvok asked.

"And might I remind you that we're not Starfleet." Chakotay said as he turned to the Vulcan, before giving Seska a withering glance. "We're Maquis. You probably think that our technology is easy to figure out but it's not. It'll be much easier on you if you let us live so we can teach you how it works."

"You drive a hard bargain." Culluh replied as his smile almost cracked his face. If he could take them to his private loading bay without Lord Razik finding out, then he could easily take over the Ogla with this new found technology. "Let them go." he said to his men, as they did as he asked. "Set a course out of this system and towards my private repair station."

"Shall, I tell Lord Razik of our victory?" a Kazon soldier asked after he instructed A'sha on what course to take.

"No!." Culluh snapped. "I and I alone will tell him at the appropriate time. Is that clear?"

"Yes my Lord." the soldier said as he snapped too.

Seeing what he believed to be the Captain's chair, Culluh walked past Chakotay and sat down in the chair. Today turned out better then he could have ever hoped.


	24. Chapter 23 The Missing Months pt 3

Chapter 23

The Missing Months pt. 3

Day 7

Culluh's Private Repair Station

3.5 Light Years from Ocampa

Six Days Before Voyager Comes Into Ocampa Space

As the Val Jean and Culluh's ship docked at the repair station, the Maquis were marched down a corridor with the full force of Culluh's men behind them. Even if Chakotay wanted to leave, he couldn't. He was in too deep now and there was no turning back.

Looking around the place it seemed dark and depressive and it reminded him so much of the Cardassian ships and stations he'd been on in the past. He guessed that some things were just universal.

"This is quite an impressive place isn't it?" Culluh asked as he matched stride with Chakotay.

I've seen better. Chakotay thought to himself. "Yes it's very impressive."

"When my grandfather was a Maje he brought a lot of honor and defeated a lot of enemies in his day for the sake of the Kazon-Nistrim." Culluh explained. "Much so that he acquired this space station."

"I..." Chakotay's eyes widened as he looked out of a viewport and saw a ship that he'd never thought would be in the Delta Quadrant.

"That ship arrived a few days before the Caretaker brought you here." Culluh said as he followed his gaze. "My engineers can't make heads nor tails of it's technology or even how to operate it." If I told Razik, he'd get his own men to look at it and this ship would be lost to me. "Have you ever seen a ship like that before?"

"No." Chakotay lied smoothly as he stopped looking at the Klingon Bird of Prey. "What... what happened to it's crew?"

"We killed them of course." Culluh replied with a demonic smile. "They were the most violent race, I've ever encountered." And even though there were only ten of them, they killed over thirty five of my men. Culluh silently added. "Now enough about that ship. My men will show you where you'll be sleeping for tonight. Tomorrow we will begin work on your ship and start taking apart it's technology."

Seeing that they were starting to lead his people off in different directions, Chakotay suddenly stopped. "I need her to come with me." he said as he pointed to Seska. "She's my... consort."

"Ah." Culluh replied with a knowing smile. "I won't deny a man of that."

With a nod, his men led them to a room together as the other Maquis was split up. As Seska and Chakotay walked into their room, that conveniently looked like a dark dank cell, Seska turned to Chakotay.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Seska asked. They couldn't make up a plan because on the whole ride over here they were kept separate.

"I'm still thinking about it." Chakotay replied as he started to pace. There was no way the Kazon were going to let them live after sharing their technology. There simply wouldn't be any need for them. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "We're going to steal that Klingon Bird of Prey."

"What!?" Seska half shouted out.

"You heard me." Chakotay said as he met her gaze. "For now we'll play along with the Kazon until we can learn how bad off that Klingon vessel is. There doesn't seem to be that many Kazon here and Culluh said that they've only been working on it for a couple of days. If it's not that bad damaged, we'll transport our food and supply holdings over to the other ship, rig the Val Jean to explode and then get the hell out of here."

"That sounds like a good plan." Seska nodded her agreement. "But I have one question. How the hell are we supposed to pull that off?"

"With this." Chakotay replied as he reached into a hidden pocket in his jacket. "This is an automatic transporter recall remote control. It's something that B'Elanna made up just in case no one was on the Val Jean in case we needed to make an emergency beam out back to the ship."

"I'm glad the Kazon weren't thorough with their search of us." Seska replied as she took the control from him. "How are we going to do this?" she asked, already practically seeing the wheels turning in his mind.

"Since this control is connected to the Val Jeans Transporter system, we actually don't have to do much." Chakotay told her as he took the control back. "We'll pretend to help the Kazon for a couple of days all the while gathering a few things off the ship that we need. I'll then use this to send our food and supplies over to the Klingon ship."

"How are we going to make the Val Jean explode?"

"I'm going to leave that in your capable hands." Chakotay told her with a smile. "Now let the rest of the Maquis know what's going on."

"Okay." Seska replied with a nod as she turned to leave. Peeping out of the door, she saw that no guard was posted. Before she walked out however, there was something that she needed to know. "Wait, does A'sha even know how to fly a Klingon ship?"

"Just tell her that she'll have to adapt. Now get going."

Following his orders, Seska crept out of the room. With a sigh, Chakotay sat down on the hard bed in the room, hoping against hope that his plan would work.

Day 9

Four Days Before Voyager Comes into the Ocampa Space

The explosion from the Val Jean ripped through Culluh's repair station, instantly killing dozens of Kazons and throwing several more off of their feet. As the Maquis materialized on the Klingon bridge, Chakotay looked around and saw that the floor was covered with weapons, gore, and blood.

Those sick fucks didn't even bother to clean this up. Chakotay thought angrily to himself.

"We don't have much time," said Seska, snapping Chakotay back to the here and the now. "From what I can tell the warp drive, weapons, and the food replicators have been taken offline. So we need to get busy before the Kazon figure out where we went."

"Go down to Engineering and get the warp drive back online." Chakotay snapped out as Seska and Hogan ran out of the room. Hopefully they'll know what to do when they get down there. "A'sha, clear us of these docking clamps and go to full impulse."

No sooner had he said that, an alarm went off at Tuvok's station. "Kazon scout ships are warping in sixty astronomical units from our position."

"How long until they spot us?" Chakotay asked as he sat down in the Captain's chair.

"At current speed... three minutes." reported Tuvok. It took him a minute to work the controls but he had worked on a Klingon cruiser years ago and knew them better then the rest of the crew.

"Seska, we have Kazon coming into the system; get your ass in gear." Chakotay said as the ship jerked. Looking towards A'sha she nodded that they had been released from the docking clamps.

**You don't need to tell me twice.** She started banging and cursing on machinery in the engine room.

Two minutes later, the Kazon scouts went to warp. They were on top of them before Chakotay could even shout the alarm.

**We have warp!** said Seska over the comline.

"Helm, engage!" the Klingon ship warped away again just seconds before the scouts fired. "Let's move," said Chakotay. "I don't want to hang around here all day."

"I'm working as fast as I can, boss." said Mohammad. It was taking her a little longer then she liked to get the controls down but she was doing it. It was especially hard since they had to go through a small asteroid field.

And then the hunters were on top of them again.

"Go!" shouted Chakotay, watching the two scouts approach on the view-screen like orcas bearing down on a wounded seal. Their vessel leapt to warp again, with ten Kazon vessels baying at their heels. A few of them followed at a distance while the others closed in-so when Mohommad dropped their ship out of warp to turn, one would overshoot, but the other wouldn't.

"They're going to wait until we're in open space and then they're going to attack." said Chakotay.

"Trying to shake them." said Mohommad.

The ship dropped out of warp, turned with thrusters, then leapt into warp again. Mohammad had free reign with the ship, taking them through the twisting warren of safe passages through the asteroid field without asking Chakotay or anyone else for instructions.

"They are still pursuing," said Tuvok.

They turned again, and then Mohammad opened up the warp drive to full power. Something went bang and caught fire down below; Seska cursed and screamed and hammered on machinery with a wrench

The Klingon ship then began rattling. "What the hell is that?" said Chakotay.

"Subspace is very disturbed around here, boss," said Mohammad. The rattle became violent shaking.

We're going to have to drop out of warp if this keeps up. said Seska over the open com-line. **The engines don't like this at all.**

"I see a spot." said Mohammad. "Dropping out of warp."

They fell below superluminal speed in the middle of a calm patch a few million kilometers across, surrounded by vast clouds of hot gas.

"The Kazons overshot us." said a man at OPS named Bendera. "Most of them are in the middle of a cloud."

"On screen!"

Eight Kazon ships were being buffeted by plasma and repeatedly slashed by energy discharges. One took a shot right across the bow that penetrated the shields and tore away part of the hull.

"Let's move," said Chakotay. The Klingon ship warped away, leaving the Kazons behind. A few minutes later, when Mohammad had to turn again, Bendera checked their long range scan.

"Are they following us?" said Chakotay.

"Negative. They're leaving and going back towards the station."

"They had enough for one day," said Seska as she walked onto the bridge. She shook her head. The Bajoran earring she wore jingled. "There's no way we should have survived that."

"But we did." said Chakotay. He leaned back in his chair and smiled for the first time all day. The adrenaline of combat was draining away, leaving him in a euphoric haze that was nearly post-orgasmic.

"Sir, we're being hailed." Tuvok spoke up.

"On screen."

"Do not think that this is over human." Culluh said with a sneer as his image appeared on the main viewer. "I will personally mount an offensive and destroy you for what you've done."

"We'll be ready." Chakotay replied as he looked around at his crew. With a sneer Culluh cut the communications. "This wasn't bad for our first run on this ship."

"Have you decided on a name for her yet?" Seska asked. "I'd hate to keep calling this ship the mu'qaD veS."

"What about the Maquis battleship Torres?" Chakotay asked as he looked around.

"I think B'Elanna would like that." A'sha said as she turned around and smiled at him. There was no reason to try to go back to Ocampa now, because Culluh and a few others told them that whoever the Caretaker decides to keep for awhile he sends them to that planet with an incurable disease that kills them in less then two days. They didn't want to believe him initially but he showed them evidence. All they could do was hope that B'Elanna was resting in peace.

"Tuvok you have the..."

**Chakotay, you're needed to the Transporter room now!** Ayala shouted over the com-line. Giving Seska a worried look, Chakotay gave Tuvok a nod that he had the bridge as he walked off of the bridge.

Klingon Transporter Room

As Chakotay and Seska walked into the tiny room, they saw Ayala frantically working the controls.

"Ayala what's..."

"I came down here to make sure everything was operational." the Brazilian man cut Chakotay off. "When I did I saw that a Klingon pattern was locked in a diagnostic cycle in the Transporter."

"What?" Seska asked as she moved forward and checked the console herself. "It says here that the pattern was locked in here about two weeks before we got to the Delta Quadrant."

"But look what else it says." Ayala said as he stood beside her and pushed a few buttons.

"Whoever this was, was beamed from the USS... Enterprise." Seska said in awe. "At the same time he or she was being beamed over..."

"This ship was being scanned by a coherent tetryon beam before being thrown to the Delta Quadrant." Ayala finished.

"For everyone that's not technologically inclined... what are you two talking about?" Chakotay asked as Seska and Ayala turned to look at him.

"Well, my theory is that whoever this is was locked in a diagnostic subroutine because the Caretaker brought them here at the same time they were being beamed over." Ayala explained. "So what do you want me to do with him? Do you want me to beam him into outer space?"

"No." Chakotay replied as he walked over to the controls. "There's been too much death today."

"But Chakotay what if..."

"I'll deal with that if and when the time comes." Chakotay said as he cut Seska off and activated the Transporter. Hearing the soft whine of the machine cutting on, they watched as the green energy dissipated and a Klingon male materialized on the pad.

He was tall, had his hair in a ponytail, and was wearing a new styled Starfleet uniform with a silver ceremonial Klingon sash. Looking up to his collar Chakotay noticed that he had the pips of a Lt. Commander.

"Wait I know who you are." Chakotay said as the Klingon stepped off of the Transporter. "You're Commander Worf from the Enterprise."

A/N I know Star Trek Generations took place after the events of this but in this alternate universe I bumped that time table up some, so basically after the destruction of the Enterprise D , Worf was going to go to the Klingon home world for awhile because he was on a leave of absence from StarFleet, before he was going to try to transfer to DS9.


	25. Chapter 24 The Missing Months pt 4

Chapter 24

The Missing Months pt. 4

"Who are you people?" Worf demanded as he narrowed his eyes. "And why are you on the mu'qaD veS?"

"Just relax big guy." Ayala replied as he reached for his phaser.

"Ayala." Chakotay grumbled as he waved him off. "Mr. Worf, things aren't what they seem to be."

"Who are you?" Worf asked again as he looked between the three of them.

"My name is Chakotay." Chakotay replied as he swallowed hard before giving Seska a quick look. "And we're with the Maquis."

"The Ma..." with wide eyes, Worf ran forward and punched Chakotay so hard that he flipped over the Transporter console.

Sensing movement, the Klingon warrior blindly reached out and flipped Seska over his shoulder where she fell haphazardly to the floor. Stomping off towards the door, Worf felt a sharp pain at his side. Turning he saw that Ayala had shot him with a phaser. As he attempted to run over to do damage to the man, Ayala quickly adjusted the phasers settings and shot him square in the chest sending the big brute toppling to the ground.

"That went well." Seska commented with a groan as she got back to her feet and rubbed at her now sore shoulder. That was yet another thing that they had to consider. The Maquis didn't have a doctor on board. The closet thing they ever had to a doctor was Tom Paris, but that coward was back in the Alpha Quadrant.

"We really should have recruited a doctor into our Maquis cell." Chakotay said with a wince as he stood to his feet. It was if he were reading Seska's mind. "Ayala, help me get our... friend to the holding cell."

Nervously Ayala moved forward and helped Chakotay pick the Klingon male up. Taking on Worf's full weight, both men stumbled out of the room as they headed to the brig. With a shake of her head, Seska watched them walk out of the room wondering what they had gotten themselves into this time.

Holding Cell A

As Worf finally began to rouse, he felt that he was laying on something hard. Opening his eyes, he sat up with a start as he saw that he was in a Klingon brig.

"I hope that you're not seriously hurt." Worf heard a voice say. Looking up he saw that it was the man who had called himself Chakotay, sitting in a chair on the other side of the force-field. "We don't have a doctor at the moment."

"I'm fine." Worf replied with a growl.

"I wish that you didn't attack us." Chakotay went on, trying hard not to feel so uncomfortable. "It would have been easier to break the bad news."

"And what is that bad news?" Worf asked skeptically. "That you and the other Maquis somehow took over this ship?"

"No... the bad news is we're stuck in the Delta Quadrant." Chakotay replied as he searched Worf's eyes. And what he found there was something he didn't expect. The Klingon started laughing.

"Do you take me for a fool, Maquis?" Worf asked as he stopped laughing, but still held a smirk on his face.

"No, I take you for quite the opposite Mr. Worf."

Seeing that Chakotay was being serious, Worf decided to open up a little bit. "Tell me, did you meet someone called the Traveler that brought you here?"

"No." Chakotay replied. "We were brought here by something called the Caretakers array." as he told him that, he went on to tell him all about being in Starfleet himself and then about his home planet Dorvan V being attacked by the Cardassians and how his father was killed by them. Chakotay was so ashamed and angry that he wasn't there with his father that he had the symbol of his Native American tribe tattooed on his face before taking up his father's cause with the Maquis. After that he told Worf about the Badlands, about the Caretakers array, and then Culluh and how they acquired the Klingon ship.

Worf stared at Chakotay and he realized something for the first time. He and the Maquis were all orphans born out of disaster. Even still he couldn't let his personal feelings conflict with his duty. "Even if I believe you about being in the Delta Quadrant, I still don't see what you want with me."

"We're a long way from home and we're on a Klingon vessel." Chakotay started. "We still haven't figured out this ship and we don't know how to activate the cloaking device or the weapons systems. I have thirty people on this ship. Thirty good people and I... all of us could really use your help."

"I only serve one, Captain." Worf stated boldly as he met the Indian's gaze. "And his name is Picard."

"I respect your loyalty... I really do." Chakotay said with a nod. "But like I said earlier we're a long way from home."

"And that's still not enough to convince me to serve with a group of terrorists."

"Then you'll rot in here Klingon." Chakotay said angrily as he stood to his feet and turned his back to him. "Before I leave, I wanted you to know that we're still in the territory of the people who killed the Klingons on this vessel. If we don't get weapons and the cloaking device back online we're not going to survive. Now tell me where's the honor in all of us dying in vain?"

Not waiting for him to reply, Chakotay walked out of the door and saw Seska waiting for him out in the corridor. "Well?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"He's not going to help us."

"Damn it!" Seska cursed. "Chakotay you do realize that no one here knows how to read Klingon." Well B'Elanna did but... "So what are we going to do?"

"Don't worry, I have a feeling that he'll come around." Chakotay replied as he briefly looked back at the cell block door. "I'll bring him some food in the next hour or so."

"That reminds me." Seska said with the first genuine smile she'd had in days. "Hogan and I managed to install the food circuits from the Val Jean into this ships replicators."

"And?"

"And the food actually tastes good." Seska answered as her smile wavered. "I'm glad it worked because I don't think the crew would have liked eating gagh."

"I'm glad you fixed it because I didn't want to burn through our food supply." Chakotay replied, even though they had enough food stuffs from Tobari to last at least three months. "Now let's go. I'm starved."

* * *

><p>Worf was dozing off in the brig when he was awakened by a horrid screeching wail, like metal being twisted to the breaking point, an instant before he was flung to the deck of the brig. He stood up, only to get thrown to the deck again by a violent shock. The red alert sirens wailed to life.<p>

"What have the Maquis gotten themselves into this time?" Worf asked the air as he crawled to his bunk, held onto it as he rose to his knees, bracing for another shock.

Not having to wait long to get his answer he looked up and saw that the force-field to his cell collapsed. Taking off at a dead run, he went for the bridge. It was a bit of a struggle to get there but once he did, he saw pieces of equipment in a state of disarray: consoles open, fiber optic tubes unconnected, and viewing screens dismantled. It was a frantic, desperate scene - a ship and crew totally unprepared and what made it worse was the fact that they were in the middle of a battle.

For the moment no one noticed him, as he stood in place watching, remembering what Chakotay had said. Then suddenly he thought that today was not a good day to die.

"I'm doing the best that I can but I can't shake them forever!" A'sha was in the middle of shouting as another Kazon scout ship zoomed by the main viewer.

Ignoring what she was saying and every other thing around him, Worf rushed over to Tactical and saw that Tuvok was having a hard time configuring his controls. Brushing him aside, he looked down at the console himself and saw what the problem was. Tuvok didn't know how to realign the weapons array. Quickly doing it, he didn't hesitate to send out an opening salvo of torpedoes.

As the Battleship Torres' photon torpedo tubes ejected glowing balls of light energy, they seemed to float toward the oncoming ships, almost too slowly. And in those brief seconds, the Kazon scouts hurtled at the Torres, unable to turn. As the photon torpedoes hit, they disintegrated the ships into thousands of fragments. Instantly, those fragments pulverized themselves on the ship's forward force-field and deflector screens. The smaller pieces burnt up on impact, clearly outlining the ship's force-field barriers.

The Maquis station onlookers reacted to the utter annihilation of the Kazon vessels and for the first time they all noticed that Worf was on the bridge..

"Report!?" Chakotay ordered as the Kazon ship fragments still smashed into the force-field screen; the smaller bits exploded like sparklers as impact heat consumed them. The larger sections bounced away, the bridge quivering as they hit.

Then one final gigantic fragment struck, causing the bridge to shudder. And then the viewer showed only the normal sub-warp effects. The stars ahead, relatively stationary; a feeling of motion, but smooth, visually normal.

"Only minimal damage was done." Ayala reported from OPS. "No casualties are being reported either."

You're wrong, Ayala, there are casualties. Losing my mind was a causality! "We're... we're in the clear sir." A'sha reported as she let out a sigh of relief.

"See." Chakotay said as he turned to look at hopefully his new recruit. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

"A Klingon warrior doesn't sit still in the heat of battle." Worf explained. "There is no honor in dying in vain. May I suggest that we leave enemy territory."

"Gladly." Chakotay replied with a smile as he turned to his helmswoman. "A'sha get us out of here."

"I can't sir, the warp drive isn't responding."

"Engineering, report." Chakotay said over the com.

Engineering

With Seska and her crew pouring over the instruments - all seemed very grim over the fact that they didn't know much about this alien technology. Seska, quite preoccupied, now spoke into the intercom.

"I'll have warp drive in just a second!" Seska yelled into the air. "We're still picking up the pieces down here."

* * *

><p>As she promised after a few minutes the warp drive came back online. Seska wasn't B'Elanna but she still knew what she was doing.<p>

"We are cleared to go to warp eight." Ayala reported. "Position report, Navigator..?"

"Helm control is completely restored." A'sha spoke up. "I'm computing a new course for us to take."

"Engage whenever you're ready." Chakotay said as he gave her a nod of approval before looking over at Worf, who nodded back. It seems that he was right about the Klingon. Whether he was Starfleet or not he was really going to be a big asset to the team.

Day 55

Mess Hall

Worf sat alone at a table drinking a glass of prune juice. This was something that he had done everyday since rematerializing on the mu'qaD veS or the Torres as the Maquis now renamed her. It wasn't so much as being anti-social then it was that he didn't want to give in. He didn't want to give in to the fact that he wasn't getting home soon, so he didn't want to get close to these people only to have to turn them in to Starfleet when they got back to the Alpha Quadrant.

But looking on the opposite side of the coin, he lived by a simple Klingon code of honor. Adapt or perish. In the back of his head he knew that they would probably not get home anytime soon and he figured that sooner or later he would have to adapt to his new environment and for better or worse his new captain. His final decision was made for him as the ships head Helmswoman walked over to his table.

"You mind if I sit here?" A'sha asked, even as she sat her tray on his table.

"Do I have much of a choice?" Worf mumbled, as he turned away from her gaze as if he wasn't interested in having a conversation.

"Naw you don't." she replied with a smirk as she started to eat her food. After a few seconds she couldn't take the un-nerving silence from him. "So what's your story? Day in and day out you sit here by yourself and you don't... mingle with anyone."

"I'm a Klingon warrior." Worf said proudly. "We do not... mingle."

As he said that she burst out laughing. "So you're going to sit here by yourself for the next eighty years?" A'sha asked through a fit of giggles. "That doesn't seem practical." As Worf growled low in his throat, it only made her laugh even more. Finally calming down she looked at him up and down. "Why are you still wearing your Starfleet uniform? The rest of the Maquis feel as if you don't like us."

"I am not Maquis." Worf replied as he turned away from her gaze again. "I am still a Starfleet officer."

"Starfleet officer or not you earned a lot of respect on this ship when you saved our butts from those Kazon attacks." A'sha told him seriously as she reached out and touched his hand, making him turn and look at her. "You certainly earned my respect. I have a duty shift to get to. I'll see you later." and with that she stood up, gathered her tray, took it to the wash station and walked out of the room.

Watching her with a smirk, for a minute he was reminded of Deanna. The two had broken up before he was assigned to come aboard the mu'qaD veS on a mission to the Klingon homeworld. Something in the back of his mind told him from the very beginning that Deanna would never truly be his but he had to try.

**Mr. Worf, you're needed to the bridge.** Chakotay's voice said over the comline.

"I'm on my way." Worf replied as he tapped at his combadge. Sighing he left his glass of prune juice on the table and walked to the bridge. When he got there, Chakotay looked up with a pensive look on his face, before he nodded to Tuvok.

"Show him."

Following his orders, Tuvok worked the controls and nodded for Worf to direct his attention towards the main viewer. Doing so Worf looked to the screen and saw a large metal cylinder slowly rotating on the screen.

"It is a torpedo shell casing." Worf noticed as he gave the commanding officer a look. "What's the importance of..."

"Magnify." Chakotay ordered as Tuvok did just that. Taking a closer look, Worf's eyes widened a little as he saw the words USS Voyager on the side of the shell casing.

* * *

><p>Voyager<p>

Briefing Room

Present Time

"After we did a brief examination on the shell casing, we figured the course that it might have come from." Chakotay was saying as he started to finish up his story that he was telling to the Voyager bridge crew and his main crew. "Don't worry we didn't desecrate the body that was inside, we just did scans. We had a few more run in's with the Kazon but we've been looking for you since that day."

Thank God we're not out here alone. Harry thought to himself. Letting out a sigh, he looked over at his counterpart. "So what do we do now?"

"I was actually hoping that I could have dinner with an old friend." Chakotay replied as he looked over at B'Elanna who blushed. "Then I'd like to see if we could trade for supplies before we set out on our way."

"You're not going to stay with us?" Harry asked in an almost boyish like shock.

"With all due respect I have my own ship." Chakotay replied. And for the first time since he'd been talking to the man, he noticed just how young he was. "After I get her patched up and we get supplies, I'd like to get as far away from this part of space as possible."

"So you're just going to leave after giving the Kazon, Federation based technology?"

"I didn't give them anything." Chakotay countered, trying to control his anger. "I blew up my ship before it could get to that point. Their scientists probably downloaded the schematics from our ship and adapted that information to some database. Even if they hadn't of done that after awhile they would have gotten the information from the Klingon ship before we took it."

"You're right." Harry admitted. From what B'Elanna told him about Chakotay he used to be a Starfleet officer and he knew the value of the Prime directive. Letting the tension out, Harry was suddenly enthusiastic again before he smiled over at Lt. Stadi and then settled his gaze on Worf. "I'd like to talk to Mr. Worf and Lt. Stadi. Tom... and Counselor Isis, I'd also like to talk to you later, Mr. Chakotay... "

"Chakotay will do just fine." the older man cut Harry off.

"Chakotay." Harry corrected. "Give your supply list over to Commander Rollins and we'll see what we can do about the supplies you need. If that's everything..."

"I would also like to talk to you as well, Captain." Tuvok spoke up as all eyes turned to him. Looking towards Chakotay he gave him a nod. "It is of utmost importance and will be on the behalf of the Maquis."

"All right." Harry replied wondering what he could possibly want. "Dismissed."

"So somebody thought that Tom would make a good first officer?" Chakotay said loudly as he and the others headed towards the door. "You guys really were desperate out here."

"Leave him alone, Chakotay." B'Elanna said with a grin as she put a hand around Chakotay's waist as they walked out of the room. "So you really named your ship after me?"

Looking at them go and seeing first hand how close his girlfriend and Chakotay seemed to be, Harry's heart started to twist. Focusing on business right now, he looked across the table and saw Lt. Stadi standing up smiling at him. Giving her a nod, he looked to Tuvok, who was waiting for him on the other side of the room, and walked over to him. As the two started to whisper, Tuvok removed something from his neck and handed it to him. Moving to a console, Harry placed the rod, that he was handed into the workstation and he gasped at what came up on the tiny screen. "No way."

"What is it, Harry?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's... he's a lieutenant on this ship." Harry replied trying to reel in his surprise.

"What?" Worf and Tom asked at the same time.

"I believe that I should disclose my mission at a later time." Tuvok said as he looked around the room before taking a seat. "In the meantime, I believe our time would be better served figuring out how we will proceed with our command structure."

"What do you mean?" Isis asked as she looked from Harry back to Tuvok.

"What I mean, Counselor is that Mr. Kim will no longer be Captain." the Vulcan explained. "According to Federation guidelines in the case of the Captain dying the next high ranking officer must take command of this vessel. Mr. Worf will now be the Captain of Voyager and since I am a full lieutenant, I will serve as his First Officer and Lt. Stadi will be second in command."

"Let's get one thing straight, Tuvok!" Isis shouted as she slapped the table hard and stood to her feet. "I don't give a damn about Federation guidelines."

"I... understand your outburst Counselor." Tuvok replied impassively as he raised an eyebrow. "You're needed in your current position, but surely you understand that this ship should be ran by seasoned Starfleet Officers?"

"What would you have us do?" Worf asked. "Follow the lead of an Ensign?"

"That man saved my life!" Isis shouted as she slapped the table hard again. "And he saved everyone on this ship."

"As well as gotten several people killed." Tuvok said as he pulled out a PADD. "As Mr. Chakotay was talking, I was reviewing your mission logs since appearing in the Delta Quadrant." As Tuvok started to read off the names, Harry flinched as he said Lyndsay's name.

"He was only trying to get us home." Tom countered.

"Understandable, however do you think his choices were the best way to go about it?"

Tom's voice caught in his throat and not being able to answer the question it was surprisingly Worf who threw the haggard crew a lifeline. "What do you have in mind Counselor?"

"Leave Harry in command on a trial basis." Isis replied thinking quickly. "You can be the ships Strategics Operations Officer and hold the same rank as Tom. If you feel at any time that Harry can't fulfill his duties, you can be Captain. I... I remember from my Starfleet history class, that an exception was made like this for Kirk when his Captain was killed. Spock was rightfully supposed to take command but he gave it up so Kirk could take charge. I'm not trying to compare the two, but all I'm asking is that you please give Harry a chance."

Hearing her plea, Worf took a long hard look at Harry. At first glance the young man before him looked as green as Targ shit and let a woman speak for him when asked why he should be Captain. Basically he was in over his head. But then again so am I. He thought to himself. Ever since the destruction of the Enterprise he had lost himself. His one mission in life was for him to die for his Captain on the bridge of the Enterprise in a glorious battle but instead had to watch as his ship plummeted to a useless planet and was destroyed. It was a place that he called home for well over seven years and a place that made him take a leave of absence on it's destruction. If he couldn't die protecting his home and his extended family then what was he worth? That's why he needed time away from things so he could find out who he really was. And now here he was on a voyage, farther then what he anticipated and was being asked to become Captain over people he didn't know.

Taking another deeper look into the man's eyes he saw a familiar spark. It was a spark that reminded him of Captain Picard, whenever he pondered where to go from here. Then another thought hit him. Maybe fate was giving him another chance to protect another ship, a new home, and a new family. Giving Harry the benefit of the doubt for the moment, he cleared his throat.

"You've obviously earned the respect of your crew..." Worf started. "...and after reading your reports, I see that you have done what you thought was necessary to keep your crew alive, however misguided some of your decisions have been. Until, I determine that you are... unfit for duty you will remain Captain."

"But sir, logic would dictate..."

"I stand by my decision." Worf replied with finality in his voice as he looked from Tuvok to Harry. "Don't make me regret it. If at anytime I feel that you are in over your head or I don't agree with your decisions, I will take command of this ship. We will figure out a command structure later." Ignoring Tuvok as he said that he would make a personal log about it to turn into Starfleet command, Worf walked out of the room so he could explore the ship.


	26. Chapter 25 State of Flux pt 2

A/N Thanks for the reviews guys.

Chapter 25

State Of Flux pt. 2

Mess Hall

A chorus of laughter rung out from B'Elanna, Chakotay, and the other Maquis, with the exception of Tuvok, as they all reminisced about old times. Chakotay always had his suspicions about Tuvok, but he didn't necessarily think that he was a Federation spy. Damn Vulcan. It made him wonder who else in the Maquis wasn't who they said they were.

Coming down off her fit of laughter, B'Elanna suddenly looked over at Worf, who was sitting at a neighboring table alone. Excusing herself from Chakotay and the others she got up and sat down with him. "You're not very talkative are you?"

"I am a Klingon warrior." Worf told her. "We're not... chatty."

"But you're still what I always expected."

"Oh?" Worf asked as he met her gaze.

"I'm a little embarrassed to say this but you were always a hero of mine." she went on as he gave her a look. "You know being the first Klingon in Starfleet. It... it didn't seem so tough on me when I tried to join, because someone had already done it."

"I'm... relieved that I'm not the only Klingon on board." Worf admitted, which made B'Elanna frown a little. Before she could respond Chakotay walked over to their table.

"I look forward to talking to you later, B'Elanna." Chakotay told her softly. "But I need to speak with your ships doctor."

"Are you hurt?" Seska asked as she stood up. "Maybe I should go with..."

"No it's nothing like that." Chakotay said cutting her off quickly. "I just need to ask him a few questions and make sure that list of medical supplies are taken care of. I'll be back later." spinning on his heel, Chakotay swiftly turned and walked out of the room, greeting Harry as he entered.

Seeing Worf talking to his girlfriend, Harry quickly walked over to them. "B'Elanna do you mind if Mr. Worf and I have a chat?"

"No." B'Elanna replied with a smirk. "Go right ahead."

"Mr. Worf." as they walked out of the room, Harry looked around before he started talking in hushed tones to the Klingon warrior. "I need you to tell me all you can about the Maquis."

Sickbay

As Chakotay entered Sickbay, he idly wondered about Voyager's young Captain and why it seemed that he let the Maquis have free roam of the ship. He and his people weren't going to do anything but after both men shared stories about the Kazon, he was surprised that Harry would let an unknown element like the Maquis walk around unsupervised.

This guy really is naive. Chakotay thought to himself. Maybe he trusts us because of B'Elanna. Shaking that thought out of his head, he saw a balding man sitting in the doctor's office. "Are you Doctor Zimmerman?" Chakotay asked as he walked into the small room.

"Yes." the Doctor replied as he looked up and frowned. "And you are?"

"My name is Chakotay." Chakotay replied. "I'm... a guest on this ship."

"I wish the Captain would inform me of when new people come onto this ship." the Doctor mumbled. "Now what can I do for you Mr. Chakotay?"

"I actually need these supplies for my ship." Chakotay replied as he handed him a PADD with a list of medical supplies.

"Hmmm, I'll need to confer with the Captain about this, but I don't see a problem with giving some of these items away." the Doctor replied as he stood up and started to put a few things together.

"Thank you, Doctor and... I also have a medical question for you." Chakotay said as he cleared his throat. "How much do you know about Orkett's disease?"

Neelix's Quarters

"Just calm down, Neelix." Isis was in the middle of saying as she looked from the Talaxian to Kes. "You don't want to say something that you don't mean."

"I will not calm down!" Neelix shouted as he looked to his girlfriend. "I've never seen this side of you before Kes. I don't know why you're jealous but for the last time Lt. Campbell and I are just friends and nothing more."

"It's Lt. Campbell now?" Kes questioned with a frown. "At first it was always Lyssa this and Lyssa that. I..."

"Kes just hold on a minute and take a deep breath." Isis cut her off.

"I've seen the way you two are always looking at each other." Kes continued. "I know something is going on."

"I... I never thought I'd say this to you but I think we need some space." Neelix suggested. "Obviously you're not mature enough for an adult relationship."

"Not mature enou..." Kes grumbled, thinking that Neelix was making light of her age. "Fine."

And with that said, Kes grabbed the few things that she owned and stormed out of the room. Heart finally starting to beat slower, Neelix suddenly frowned and looked deflated.

"What just happened, Counselor?" Neelix asked as he slowly looked to her.

"You just broke up." Isis replied as she put a soft hand on his shoulder.

Mess Hall

As Chakotay walked back into the room, his face twitched a bit as he overlooked Seska and walked towards his old Chief Engineer on the Val Jean. "B'Elanna do you mind if we have a chat?"

"Yeah." B'Elanna replied as she stood to her feet and cocked her head to the side. Even in battle she'd never seen Chakotay look like that before.

"I know that you've... found a new life here on Voyager but I want you to come with me." Chakotay started as they moved away from the others. "I want you to rejoin the Maquis as my Chief Engineer."

"But Seska..."

"Is no B'Elanna." Chakotay cut her off with a smile. "No one knows their way around a warp core better then you."

"Chakotay... I..." B'Elanna stammered, her head swimming. "I... I'd love to come with you but..."

"It's the Captain isn't it?" Chakotay asked as she met his gaze. "I see the way you look at him."

"He saved my life Chakotay." B'Elanna explained. "And I love him."

"I understand." Chakotay replied with a chuckle as he pulled her into a hug. "There's no shame in finding love B'Elanna. Just tell him that if he ever hurts you that I'm going to kick his ass."

"Thank you for understanding." B'Elanna replied, near tears. "But are you sure that you have to go? Maybe you could..."

"What, abandon a perfectly good ship?" Chakotay asked with a raised eyebrow. "Somehow I don't think I'd make a good addition to this ship. Especially if I have to answer to Tom." he said as they both chuckled. "Besides, I don't want to be bound by Starfleet rules and regulations. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get my people home."

"Then you're going to need a good Engineer to do that." B'Elanna told him. "Believe me with the notes that I'm going to leave Seska, I'll make her a better Engineer then I ever was."

"Believe me B'Elanna..." Chakotay started as he looked over the short woman's shoulder and saw Seska sitting alone. The Doctor had explained to him how Orkett's disease worked and that there was more chances of them having complications with having children by being human and Bajoran then by having any complications with her having had that disease. The Doctor didn't doubt that maybe an unskilled physician my have told Seska about Orkett's at one point in time but he assured him that there was no way that if he had children with Seska that they would come out looking Cardassian. That part of Seska's story checked out as being a possible oversight by another doctor but to Chakotay it still spread a cloud of doubt over his girlfriend. "... Seska can never be like you. Take care of yourself and goodbye."

Harry's Quarters

"You're going to have a lot to prove if you want to stay Captain on this ship." B'Elanna was saying as she gave her boyfriend a kiss. "But I know you can do it."

"B'Elanna, I was thinking that... that maybe I should give it up." Harry replied as he briefly looked down to the floor before meeting her gaze. "Commander Worf and Tuvok are seasoned veterans. And what Tuvok said about those people who died under my command..."

"Harry you can't keep thinking about that." B'Elanna replied as she touched his cheek. "People are going to die regardless of who's in charge. And what about all the lives you've saved? Lyndsay and the others didn't die in vain."

"You're right... I can't make this all about me." Harry replied with a sigh. Kicking off their boots, they laid back on the bed, holding each other and staring up at the ceiling. "So ummm, you and Chakotay."

"What about us?" B'Elanna asked as she turned to look at him.

"Well, you never mentioned how handsome he was."

"I'll let him know that you think so." B'Elanna replied as she cracked a smile and sat up. "What is this... Harry don't tell me that you're jealous? Chakotay is like a big brother to me." Even though I did have a crush on him once.

"Sorry, I... I shouldn't have even brought this up."

"Harry you have to stop thinking like that." B'Elanna said as she put her head on his chest. "I told you, I'm yours."

With a smile, Harry squeezed his girlfriends shoulder and held her just a little tighter before they fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

><p><em>Captain's log, Supplemental : We've finished transferring equipment and supplies over to the Maquis ship Torres and they have given us several key items that we needed to keep this ship going. B'Elanna has also helped them to create a holodeck on their ship and has left Seska with a series of notes that she would need since she's going to serve as the Torres' Chief Engineer.<em>

_On a sad note we're also losing four more crew members, in the form of Seth Rollins, Tuvok, and surprisingly Kes and Lt. Stadi. I kind of figured that Seth wanted to leave because he was unhappy with being demoted and he was always a loner anyway, but Kes wanting to leave threw me for a curve ball. I thought she and Neelix were so close. She's going to be serving as the Torres' doctor, as Doctor Zimmerman will be leaving her a stack of PADD's on conventional medicine and videos on how to do several different kinds of surgery. Tuvok believed that his experience at Tactical would prove beneficial to the Torres' survival, but I really think it's because he doesn't agree with Worf's decision to leave me in charge. Why Stadi left is a mystery to me as she preferred to keep her reasoning private. It's funny that all this time I've waited for her to wake up and take command and when she does she wants to leave. Chakotay has agreed to take them in because they're needed so I don't have to worry about their safety._

Corridor to Transporter Room

As Seth Rollins, Veronica Stadi, Tuvok, and Kes walked through the corridor leading to the Transporter room in silence, their mouths dropped open, with the exception of Tuvok, as they saw a long honor guard of officers and crew, that ended with the senior officers at the end of the hall. All of them were saluting them as they walked by. With unfallen tears in his eyes, Seth walked up to Commander Paris and Captain Kim at the end of the hall.

"Sir..." Seth started as he looked to Tom.

"You might be gone but you won't be forgotten." Tom said as his throat tightened a bit. The two didn't always see eye to eye but Rollins was still a good man.

"Permission to transfer to the Torres sir?" Seth asked as Tom looked over at Stadi, who nodded back.

"Permission granted." Tom replied as he gave Rollins a salute. As Seth passed the door, he saw his men Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose giving him a salute. Giving them one back he walked into the Transporter room. "I'm sorry to see you leave." Tom said as he gave Kes a hug.

"And I'm sorry to leave you all short handed." Kes replied as she broke their embrace. "But I think the Torres needs me more."

"Don't worry about it." Tom said seriously. "In edition to working the Mess hall, Bree decided to work a shift in Sickbay and Counselor Isis is taking over the hydroponics bay. I'm really going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Kes replied as she said her goodbyes to others and walked into the Transporter room. As she did, she looked up to see Lyssa and Neelix working the controls. Looking deep into Neelix's eyes, Kes saw nothing but hurt. Dropping her bag, she ran over to him and gave him a deep hug. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm the one whose sorry." Neelix rushed to say. "I never meant to say those things to you. Are you sure you still want to go?"

"I made a promise to help these people." Kes replied, referring to the Maquis. "And you have to do the same here." Breaking their hug, Kes picked up her bag and walked onto the Transporter pad. Giving Lyssa a nod and a meaningful look, Lyssa transported all four of them over to the Torres.

Bridge

"Your people are safely on board my ship." Chakotay reported to Worf as he stood at Tactical.

"Then set a course out of this system." Harry replied as he and Tom walked onto the bridge. "Good luck Captain Chakotay."

"Good luck to you all." Chakotay replied with a smile over the main viewer. "And have a safe journey."

"Captain, long range sensors are picking up several ships coming into this system." Worf reported as he kept reading and looked over at him. "All of them are Kazon."

"We're picking up those ships as well." Chakotay said as he conferred with Tuvok off viewer. "They are surrounding us on all sides."

"What are your orders, Captain?" Worf asked as everyone in the room seemed to look towards him.

"All hands to battle stations." Harry said as the bridge darkened. It seemed like he would prove himself to Worf after all.

A/N You're going to get a glimpse of the new armor that Voyager has in the next chapter. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this.


	27. Chapter 26 State of Flux pt 3

Chapter 26

State Of Flux pt. 3

"Captain, those ships will enter this system in five minutes." Worf reported as he worked his controls. "What are your orders?"

"Mr. Worf put the ship at Red alert and bring the ships weapons system and advanced shielding on line."

"Aye sir." Worf replied as he did as he was ordered. Outside of the ship, the hull seemed to supercharge as crackles of energy ran down through it.

"Chakotay are you with us?" Harry asked as he looked to the Native American man, that was still on screen.

"Of course." he replied with a nod of his head.

"Good." Harry replied with a crooked smile. "Because I don't know about you but I'm tired of these damn Kazon. Cloak your ship and when you see an opening jump in and fire on them."

"There's nothing like the element of surprise." Chakotay said as he nodded to someone off screen before looking back to Harry. "Good hunting." he said as he ended the communication.

"Ahni, bring us about so we're sitting right under the Torres." Harry ordered. "If the Kazon want a show then we'll give them one."

"Aye aye, sir." Ahni said as the Torres disappeared above them.

Sitting in wait, both crews watched as the Kazon fleet warped into the system surrounding them on all sides.

"Sir, we're being hailed." Tom reported.

"Put it on screen." Harry said as Culluh's smiling face appeared on screen.

"It seems that we are now at an overpass, Captain Kim." the Kazon male said as his eyes burned into Harry's. "I and I alone hold the secrets to your peoples technology. Now it will be both and honor and a pleasure to destroy you."

"We'll see about that." Harry replied with a smile. He always loved when the villain told their secrets. "Now!" he yelled as he slapped at his combadge.

Torres' cloak lifted with the ship less than a few hundred kilometers from the Kazon fleet. The spread of three photon torpedoes streaked away and struck Devastation amidships port, blasting his superstructure apart and leaving the central core floating exposed in a tangle of glowing wreckage.

The remaining battleships fired on Voyager and Torres with their main batteries. Harry had to grab his armrests to keep from getting thrown out of his chair.

"Advanced shielding holding at ninety eight percent," Worf reported in awe. With all of the firepower that the Kazon had shot at them, they should have been blown out of the water. Even the Enterprise would have been hard pressed in this situation. Remembering the meeting he had about the ship, he then remembered that the ship had been coated with a secondary hull from what was left of the Caretakers array. They preferred not to use it all the time because it consumed too much power.

"Ahni, alter course and go to a short burst of warp!" Harry yelled.

"Warp drive is not responding." Ahni told him in confusion as her console beeped angrily.

"Engineering, report!" Harry yelled out.

**Port plasma manifold offline.** B'Elanna told him over the comline. **We're working on it.**

"Work faster!" Harry yelled back, as Voyager rocked with another massive shell hit. Harry then looked to the tactical station. "Worf, reload torpedoes, destroy target beta. Give the rest of them something to think about."

"Aye sir." Worf replied as he looked to the command center.

Outside the ship, four photon torpedoes screamed into the front armor of the nearest Kazon battleship, blasting it into flying debris.

"Captain, it looks like some of the Kazons are running away." Lyssa reported from OPS. "Two, three…five, six of them are powering their warp drives."

"Let them go." Harry said as he saw the Torres going into battle with some other ships. On the view screen, phaser shots played across the hull of another Kazon battleship, burning its shields away; seeing it Worf followed up with a pair of torpedoes that left it scorched and drifting. "Hail Devastation."

"They're responding," said Lyssa.

"On screen!"

Culluh appeared on the main screen cloaked in smoke on a dark, ruined bridge. His face slicked with blood.

"I'll give you one final chance to withdraw, Culluh." said Harry as Voyager shook again. "Call your fleet off or die."

"Then I'll await for you in the afterlife" said Culluh. He then jabbed a button on his console and vanished from the screen.

"So be it." Harry whispered to himself. "Mr. Worf, fire."

Devastation

Harry's hideous albino face disappeared from Culluh's comms screen. He had come too far to give up now, even as he realized some of his fleet had left the system. Damn those other tribes for leaving. Especially after I spent so much time putting them together. He switched to the fleet channel. "Dishonor and perdition to those who run! Glory and eternal life to those who fight! Destroy Voyager!"

Culluh then hoisted himself out of his chair and stepped over the body of one of his officers. He staggered over to a special control station, pulled the body of its operator aside, entered a code on a keypad, and pressed the enter key.

"And fuck you too, Kim." he said, as the first phaser blast from Voyager burned through the control room's inner armor and burned Jal Culluh into atoms.

Voyager

The last of the hulk of Devastation broke up into a thousand glowing pieces even as shouts of "Glory to those who fight!" echoed across the Kazons' comms. There was an alarm from behind Harry and a curse from Worf.

"We just lost the warhead loading system." said Worf. "Photon torpedoes offline."

"Which ship is the flagship now?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." said Worf. "But they don't need a lot of coordinating to keep shooting at us."

"We don't have to worry about them." Tom said with a smile. "The last of the Kazon ships are leaving the system. We're also being hailed by the Torres."

"Put it on screen."

"Are all of you alright?" Chakotay asked as he worriedly looked at the bridge crew.

Giving a look towards Lyssa, who reported that only minimal damage was done to the ship and they had no casualties, Harry smiled. "We're fine."

"Good, I don't know about you but I think I'd feel better if we got the hell out of Kazon space." Chakotay suggested.

"Agreed." Harry replied as he turned around to look at his crew, stopping as he looked towards Ahni. "Ensign Jetal..."

"I'm way ahead of you, sir." Ahni replied with a smile as she typed into her console. "Heading two mark three six. We're ready to go on your order sir."

"Then by all means, get us the hell out of here. Warp six." Harry ordered as Voyager and the Torres zoomed out of the system.


	28. Chapter 27 The Strain pt 1

A/N Just wanted you guys to know that I've posted a Doctor Who fanfic called The Daughters of Time, so check that out and review it when you get a moment.

Chapter 27

The Strain pt. 1

El-Auria

2265

A pretty red-headed five year old held the hand of her favorite uncle as they looked at the planets most beautiful waterfall. With a smile she looked up at him as two fish jumped out of the water and seemed to dance in the air before flopping back into their home.

Her smile turned upside down however as she saw three men clad in black looking armor walking swiftly behind her uncle with their hands outstretched. Looking up past the trees, she saw three large cubes in the pretty green sky. Her childhood memory starting to fade, the one thing she would forever remember was the robotic voice they used as they got ever closer.

"We are the Borg. Resistance is futile."

Sitting up with a gasp, Isis looked around her room ready to punch anything that moved. Calming down some and her heart starting to settle, she remembered that that happened to her when she was a child. For some reason for the past week she'd had the same recurring dream over and over again.

Wiping a bead of sweat off of her forehead, she got out of bed and walked towards the door. Maybe it was time for her to see the doctor. As the door to her room swished open, several crew members looked at her with their mouths open. Looking down at herself she remembered something important. Maybe she should put on some clothes before going to see Dr. Zimmerman.

* * *

><p>Finishing his Mok'bara class, Worf grabbed a towel and wiped at his forehead as his students walked out of the training room. Seeing B'Elanna angrily grab her gym bag, he draped the towel over his shoulder before going to her.<p>

"I see that you were struggling in my class." Worf started as he calmed his breathing. "When was the last time you practiced Klingon martial arts?"

"This was the first time in years." B'Elanna replied angrily as she dropped her bag to the floor. "My mom tried to get me to do this when I was a kid and I hated it. For the life of me I don't know why I thought this would be fun now."

Worf just stared at her for a moment after her outburst. It was so strange and a bit humorous to compare the two. He was orphaned as a child, rescued by humans and sent to Earth to be raised by them. He didn't reject his Earth upbringing, but his whole life he struggled to learn everything Klingon.

B'Elanna on the other-hand was the opposite side of the coin. She was a half-breed born of a human father and a Klingon mother. Her father abandoned her and she was given the full Klingon experience when her mother took her to live on the Klingon home world. That last part would have been a dream for him, to be immersed in Klingon culture so young but B'Elanna hated it. It seemed as though she hated everything Klingon. But then there was her attitude. It was a perfect combination of the Klingon and that fiery Latin attitude that he'd heard about. That's what got him excited.

"Perhaps we could talk about this..." Worf started as he put his hands on her shoulders. "...over dinner?"

"Oh... ummm... Worf, me and Harry are dating..."

"You and the Captain are..." Worf started as he let go of her. "I apologize. I did not mean..."

"It's okay." B'Elanna replied with a stiff smile as she picked up her bag. "I think I'll try this again. Same time next week?" she asked, even as she turned around and walked out of the room before he could reply.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, in that second Worf knew that he would spend the rest of this journey alone. Looking up as the door swished open, he saw Ahni Jetal enter the room with a cocksure smile on her face.

"All right buddy, what's going on here?" Ahni asked as she jabbed a pointed finger into Worf's chest.

"What are you talking about?" Worf asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have my karate and judo classes on Tuesdays so what do you think you're doing?"

"Not that I have to explain myself to you Ensign..."

"Don't try to pull that rank stuff with me... Commander." Ahni cut him off as she jabbed her finger in his chest again. "Captain Kim wants us to speak our minds on this ship and during our time off we're just people. Look, I tell you what... let's let our skills decide on what to do. We'll put Judo against your Mok'bara. First point can hold classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the loser has to have their classes on Wednesday and Friday."

As Ahni stared up at the imposing figure, that was Commander Worf, she watched as he virtually started to rumble with laughter. Seeing as though he was yet another person that underestimated her because of her size, she quickly caught him off guard and grabbed his arm. Before he knew what was happening Worf went sailing over Ahni's shoulder and laid flat on his back on the padded floor.

Before he could sit up, Ahni sat on his chest. "So it looks like you have Wednesday's and Friday's." she told him with a smile. "If I ever feel tired on my days, I'll let you know and you can take over for me. Have a nice day Commander." and with that, Ahni stood up and quickly walked out of the room. Grumbling Worf quickly stood to his feet and watched as she left. Perhaps there was something more to Ahni Jetal and the other people on this ship after all.

Sickbay

The Doctor marveled at the new Vidiian based medical tricorder that was issued to him by Lt. Torres and Lyssa Campbell. It was five times as advanced as an old tricorder and a part of him wished that he could write a paper on it, but who in the medical field would read it.

With a roll of his eyes, he looked to the bio-bed and saw Lt Baxter talking to Bree.

"I tried a new hamstring exercise." Baxter was saying as the Doctor examined his calf. "Maybe I overdid it. But my workouts are about all that stand between me and a severe case of cabin fever."

"Lieutenant, I am the Chief Medical Officer of this ship." The Doctor spoke up for himself, tired of being ignored. "If you have something to say to me, please, direct the statement to me."

Surprised by the outburst, Baxter looked up. "Well, you see, I need to work out..."

"I'm not telling you not to work out." The Doctor cut him off. "I'm suggesting you use a modicum of commonsense when you do it. If I see you in here again for an exercise related injury, I'll have to discuss the matter with your superior officer."

"Yes, sir."

"You're fine now." The Doctor told him as he finished examining his leg and injecting him with a hypospray. "You may leave."

"Yes, sir." Baxter replied as he slid off of the bed and headed towards the door. "Thank you, sir."

"Why was that man ignoring you?" Bree asked as the officer got out of earshot.

"Captain Kim and Kes made me realize that people were doing that and that I must demand respect." The Doctor said as he turned around and put up his equipment. "I must function as more than an Emergency Medical replacement. I must think of myself as a member of the crew."

"And I guess that I have to function as more then someone who works in the Mess hall."

"Speaking of which, I've prepared a list of things I'd like to see added to Sickbay." the EMH told her as he handed her a PADD. "Perhaps you could present it to the Captain?"

"I'd be happy to." Bree told her as the Counselor walked into the room.

"Oh umm... I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." Isis said as she looked between the two.

"You're not interrupting anything." The Doctor assured her. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I keep having this recurring dream... it's more like a nightmare really." Isis replied.

"Could you be more specific about what these nightmares are about?" the Doctor asked as he took out his tricorder.

"I was a child on El-Auria when the Borg attacked." was all the Counselor would say. She was surprised however at the look of sympathy that crossed the holograms features.

"I'm sorry Counselor." the Doctor replied as he continued his scans and then looked to Bree, letting her know that he would explain what that meant. "Your hippocampus is in a state of agitation. At least now, after what you told me I know why."

"What do you believe it is and can you make my nightmares stop?"

"This is... a form of post-traumatic stress disorder." the Doctor explained as he sat down his equipment. "Normally I would tell someone suffering like this to talk to a counselor but seeing as though you're it, I would suggest that you talk to someone you really trust."

"Thank you, Doctor." Isis replied with a nod of her head as she considered her options. "I'll talk to you later if anything changes."

"Before you leave Counselor, I'd like you to know that I'm programmed in psychology as well. If you ever need me to be... a shoulder to lean on, I'm here for you."

With a thank you to his offer the Counselor walked out of the room.

Mess Hall

Walking into the mess hall, Isis smiled as she saw Tom sitting alone eating a bowl of tomato soup. Sashaying over to him, she tapped him on the shoulder before sitting down.

Putting down his spoon, Tom frowned over at her before speaking. "I never and I mean never thought I'd say this to you, but you look like hell."

"You really know how to talk to a girl, Paris." Isis replied with a waning smile.

"I'm serious... have you been sleeping okay?"

"Actually, no." she replied as she let out a sigh. Thinking about what the Doctor had told her just a few moments ago, she looked deep into Tom's eyes. She was actually going to tell Harry about her problems but she supposed Paris would do. "Do you mind if I tell you something?"

"You know that you can tell me anything." Tom replied as his combadge suddenly chirped.

**Commander Paris you're needed to the Bridge.** Harry's voice said over the comline.

"I'm on my way." Tom replied as he gave the fair Counselor an apologizing glance.

"I'll come with you on the Bridge." Isis said as she stood to her feet.

"But what about what you had to tell me?" Tom asked.

"I'll tell you later." she replied as she looped his arm in hers. "Now let's go to the Bridge."

Bridge

As Tom and Isis walked off onto the Bridge and as they separated, Tom walked around to his chair and saw that Harry had a worried look on his face.

"We just received a distress call from a disabled vessel." Harry spoke before Tom could ask.

"What seems to be their problem?" Isis asked as she sat on the display box next to Harry. One day she would get him to install a third chair.

"We don't know." Harry replied glumly. "It was a general distress signal. We tried hailing the ship when we got close enough but we didn't get an answer."

"How many people are on board?" Tom asked as he looked at the tiny carrier on the main viewer.

"I'm picking up thirty life forms sir." Lyssa reported. "Most of them are faint."

"Mr. Worf, pick a group and lead an away team over to that ship." Tom ordered as he looked over at Harry who gave him a nod.

"Aye sir." Worf replied as he stepped down from Tactical. "Ensign Jetal, you're with me."

"He wants Ahni?" Tom and Harry mouthed to each other as Isis stood to her feet.

"Do you mind if I go with you, Worf?"

"You want..."

"If those people are in distress, they might need someone to talk to." Isis reasoned. With a nod of his head Ahni, Isis, and Worf got on the turbolift.

Alien Vessel

As Isis, the Shield, Ahni, Neelix, and Worf materialized in a dark dank compartment of the ship, the latter quickly snapped up his phaser and scanned the area.

"Is that really necessary, Worf?" Isis asked as she nodded her head towards his weapon. "We're here for humanitarian reasons."

"After all that's happened to us since coming to the Delta Quadrant we can't afford to drop our guard." Worf replied as he still looked around. Hearing a loud cough, he turned around and gestured for the others to stay behind him.

"I'm picking up twenty lifesigns coming from that direction." Ambrose said as he snapped open his tricorder.

"Let's go... slowly." Worf warned as he gave the redheaded Counselor, who rolled her eyes in return, a look.

Slowly trekking forward, they walked down a tiny corridor that opened into a decently sized cargo bay with people laid around in different places on the floor and on storage boxes. Seeing a little boy coughing and laying haphazardly on a box, Isis ran forward and turned him over.

"Counselor!" Worf shouted as he beckoned the others to stay behind him.

"He's just a sick little boy!" Isis shouted back in irritation. Looking down at the sickly child, that looked almost human she wiped a bead of sweat off of his face.

In her minds eye, as she looked at the child and he reminded her of when she was a refugee from El-Auria being transported on the SS Lakul. All of her family were either dead or assimilated by the Borg and she was alone. That was until she met a woman named Guinan that took care of her. Even though Isis was a woman by that point, the Elder El-Aurian still shared her wisdom and held her when she was alone. It had been so long since she had thought about the older woman and she promised herself that she would look her up whenever she got back to the Alpha Quadrant.

"Don't worry, little guy." Isis said with a smile as she put her hand through his hair. "I'll take care of you."

"All of these people are sick." Worf said aloud as he scanned the room again. "We must get back to Voyager and..." Before he could complete his sentence a large figure walked from behind some crates. He wasn't as big as Worf but he was big. Worf couldn't see it well but he knew something was off about him. "Counselor." he tried his best to whisper.

The thing sniffed at the air smelling for prey and moved about with little twitching jerks. As he drew closer, Isis suddenly caught a whiff of a putrid, rotten smell coming from the man. It almost smelled as though he'd been rolling around in a slaughterhouse filled with shit and rotten meat. Resisting the urge to throw up, Isis turned around to see what was behind her. The movement seemed to catch the thing's attention and he surged forward, running like lightning towards it's beautiful victim.

Isis jumped back in fright as Neelix jumped in between the two. "Stay back!" He said sharply.

Damn, he's in my line of fire. Worf thought to himself, as he tried to move around to get a shot off with his phaser.

As the man stepped into the light, Neelix's eyes widened and he couldn't breathe. His heart was hammering so loudly, that it made his whole body tremble. Nothing felt right anymore.

The man, no thing was naked and had no real features. His skin was ghostly pale, and rough, as though he were diseased. His mouth was simply a small hole in the center of his face and his nose was non-existent, his nostrils mere slits. Only it's eyes were even close to normal and even then the pupils had a faint red and yellow glow to them. These details only barely flickered across Neelix's mind before those non-features were obliterated when it's hole-mouth opened, revealing a long tongue and needle-sharp teeth.

Before anybody could do anything, it flicked out a six foot tongue that caught Neelix in the neck, sending the Talaxian down to the floor with a scream.

"Neelix!"

As if something primal was awakened in him, on hearing Isis' shout, Roman Reigns ran forward and football tackled the monster. As they hit the floor it gave a hiss of pain. A hiss that Roman silenced with a blow from his other hand, smashing his fist into the mouth, shattering teeth and sending sharp splinters flying every which way, embedding into his knuckles.

Even as Worf called his name, Roman continued pounding. Both fists flailing, smashing, delivering punishing, devastating blows to the thing beneath him. He raised both arms above his head, intending to smash them into what little was left of the thing's head when a sudden stabbing pain exploded across his chest. With eyes as wide as saucers Roman coughed and fought to draw in a breath. He could feel his chest... shift... move... things ground against other things beneath his skin and he coughed again, tasting blood.

Looking up, the group saw that the rest of the people in the room started to sit up from where they were laying and snarl at them. Taking a step back, Worf looked behind them and saw some more of the weird aliens coming from a different room. They were surrounded.

With a side kick, Ambrose kicked the alien, that was trying to suck the life out of his friend, in the face. As it's tongue detached from Roman, he pulled his friend back, even as Isis picked up the boy and moved behind them.

Firing off a shot into the advancing crowd of snarling beasts, Worf looked to the floor to see Ahni pulling on Neelix. "Worf to Voyager!" Worf shouted as he tapped his combadge. "Emergency beam out!"

As they faded away, the aliens ran forward and howled because they had just missed their meal.


	29. Chapter 28 The Strain pt 2

Chapter 28

The Strain pt.2

Neelix and Roman violently shook on their bio-beds as Worf and Ambrose struggled to hold them down.

"Bree, I need that choline compound, now!" the Doctor shouted as his new Ocampan nurse hopped into action. As she walked over with a clear vile, the Doctor loaded it into a hypospray, even as he watched Harry and Tom walk into the room.

"Worf, what happened?" Harry asked as he looked from his security detail to the big Klingon.

"We were attacked." Worf answered as the Doctor injected Neelix and then Roman with a sedative that put them to sleep.

"Attacked?" Tom asked as he instantly looked over to Isis. "So this was just a ruse?"

"No... I don't think so." the Counselor answered before Worf could speak. "When we arrived on the ship everyone was very Ill..."

"Until they decided to wake up and attack us." Worf interjected. "They were unlike any species I've ever seen."

"We'll go back and kick their asses later." Ambrose spoke up, making everyone look over at him. "I just want to know were we infected?"

"No." the Doctor answered as he ran his tricorder over the away team. "However, Mr. Reigns, Neelix and this young man are." he said as he nodded his head towards the little boy on the bed.

Damn, I hope they didn't just infect the whole crew with what those aliens had. Harry thought to himself. "Is whatever they have airborne?" Harry asked.

"No.. at least not that I can tell." Doctor Zimmerman answered. "From what Commander Worf told me, whatever this is infects people by grappling them with some kind of stinger that protrudes from the aliens tongue. However this concerns me. Computer, lights half illumination." as the lights dimmed in Sickbay the Doctor grabbed a black light and cut it on. Walking over to Roman, he pulled the young man's tunic up and the gang gasped as they saw tiny things squirming under his skin.

"What the hell is that?" Tom asked as he took a step back.

"They're some form of parasitic worm like lifeforms." The Doctor replied with a sigh. "And they're rapidly multiplying. As far as I can tell they're trying to remap the human and talaxian genome's of our shipmates to try to change them into something else."

"Those creatures that we encountered on that other ship." Worf realized.

"Exactly." the Doctor said with a raised eyebrow.

I wish that boy was awake so he could tell us what's going on. "I want everyone to get out of this room." Harry said aloud as he looked around at his crew. "Worf I want you to set a security detail outside of this door. Doc I want you to erect a level five force field around these bio-beds and see if you can find a way to get those things out of them."

"Yes sir." Doctor Zimmerman said as everyone started to walk out of the room.

"Harry... Captain, I want permission to stay behind." Isis said as she walked over to him.

"Why?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Well... no offense to the Doctor but I don't want that little boy being alone."

"Permission granted. Just stay out of the Doctor's way." Harry said as he walked in between his crew-members bio-beds. "Roman... Neelix, I don't know if you can hear me but I want both of you to fight this. That's an order." with that said Harry spun on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Now that that's out of the way..." the Doctor started as he gently but still rudely pushed the Counselor out of the way. "Computer, please erect a level five force field around bio-beds one, two, and three." as the Computer complied with his request, he turned to look at his assistant. "Bree, you may return to your other duties and I'll call you if I need you."

"Yes, Doctor." she replied as she nodded to Isis before walking out of the room.

Watching as the Doctor walked into his office, Isis pulled up a stool and sat down as close as possible to the little boys bio-bed. Seeing that he was shivering, she watched as he turned over on the bed and opened his tiny eyes. As his brown pupils locked onto her, he suddenly smiled.

"Multumesc." he said, blinking sleepily.

"Is that your name?" Isis asked, happy that he had finally woke up. She was going to inform the Doctor but she wanted to talk to the boy a little first.

"My name is Hyland." the boy replied, making Isis realize that maybe it took the universal translator a minute to understand his language.

"Hyland that's a nice name." Isis said with a smile of her own. "My name is Counselor Isis and you're on the Starship USS Voyager. We responded to your ships distress signal. If you feel up to it, can you tell me what happened to you and your people?"

"My bunica woke... woke me up one night and told me to put on some clothes." Hyland recounted. "She looked... she looked so afraid about something. All... all I remember was leaving home and getting on a ship with some sick people. Me, my Mama, and Tata were attacked by some monsters and then I woke up here." as he said that, he looked around the room and saw Neelix and Roman in the neighboring bio-beds and his eyes started to water. "Where are my Mama and Tata?"

"I...I don't know." Isis answered honestly. "But we'll try to find them. Until then, I'll take care of you."

"Multumesc." Hyland said again as he closed his eyes.

Relaxing a little, Isis let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Hopefully she could be true to her word and find his parents but then she thought about it for a second. Not only were his parents probably on the other ship with those monster but with all likelihood they were those monsters now. Plus there was no guarantee that once turned that they could be changed back to what they once were.

Before Isis could stand up to go tell the Doctor that their little guest had woken up, Hyland started to violently cough. It sounded like the little ball that bounced around in a spray can. He sounded so empty. Seeing a pitcher of water on a tray nearby, Isis poured the little boy a glass and did something she shouldn't have done. She lowered the force field. Sitting on the bed, she gathered Hyland up only to discover that he wasn't Hyland anymore. He was one of those things and she was holding onto him. Isis didn't even have time to scream as Hyland's long barbed tongue shot out and grabbed at her neck, draining away her life force and making her go ghostly pale.

Hearing a commotion, the Doctor quickly walked out of his office in time to see Isis hit the floor. With wide eyes, he ran over to her and hit his combadge, calling for security. Before Isis passed out, she heard screaming and she saw security shoot Hyland square in the chest. The blasts having no effect on him. As security switched frequencies on their phasers, they hit Hyland again and Isis watched as he vaporized into thin air before passing out.

As her eyes fluttered open, she groggily looked up and was grateful to see Tom's smiling face, rather then the harsh light that was behind his head coming from an overhead panel.

"I'm glad that you're awake." Tom said as he reached out and held her hand.

"What was the name of the shuttlepod that hit me?" Isis asked groggily as she tried to sit up, only for Tom to gently push her back down.

Letting out a sigh, Tom looked deeply in her eyes. "I wish it was that simple."

"What do you... mean?" she asked hoarsely.

"What I mean is... you've been infected." Tom told her sadly. To his surprise she did something he didn't expect. She cracked a smile before she burst out into laughter. "Hey, I know they say that laughter is the best medicine, but this is ridiculous."

"It's just that... it's just that I spent my whole life running from the Borg so I wouldn't get infected by them." Isis said as she let him in on her little joke. "And now I'm going to be taken down by... whatever this is."

"Hey let's not talk like that." Tom told her gently. "The Doc is going to figure this out."

"Like he did for that little boy?" she asked meeting his gaze and letting him know that she saw what happened to him. "Face it Tom, this is the end for me."

Sitting in silence for a moment, Tom suddenly cleared his throat. "I was just thinking that we've known each other for months but I barely know anything about you."

"Are you trying to get information, so you'll have something to say at my eulogy?"

"What's gotten into you?" Tom asked as he let go of her hand. "I understand that..."

"No you don't understand!" Isis shouted, her eyes blazing. Seeing that Tom was taken aback by her sudden attitude, she closed her eyes before looking back up at him. "I'm sorry... it's just... I spent most of my life looking down on myself and I guess that's just hard for me to break away from."

"Well you better break away from it." Tom replied with mock anger. "The people on this ship need you. I... I need you." he said the last part out more quietly.

Sensing how he must have been feeling at the moment, she reached up and grabbed his hand and she started to tell him about her home planet, the Borg, and how she aimlessly started to travel towards the Delta Quadrant and as the years past how her anger twisted so much that she wanted to seek revenge on the Borg but as fate would have it she hadn't seen a single cube. She felt like nothing for so many years until Harry and Voyager came along and saved her from the Kazon.

"I had no idea." Tom said as he looked at her in astonishment. She went through so much for someone so beautiful. With a mischievous smile, Tom suddenly sucked on his teeth. "So you have a crush on Harry? Does B'Elanna know?"

"Harry is like a little brother to me and I love him to death but I have my eyes on a certain Commander." seeing the excitement in Tom's eyes she decided to have a little fun herself. "Speaking of that certain Commander, I wonder what Worf is doing right now?"

"Oh, ha ha ha." Tom replied flatly. Before he could make a snappy comeback the ship suddenly shook hard. Letting go of his hand, Isis gave him a nod letting him know it was okay to leave. And honestly she was glad that he was gone because he started to smell good. Almost like food.

Bridge

As Tom made it to the bridge, he saw a sleek mean looking ship turning to face Voyager on the main viewer. "What did I miss?" he asked as he sat down at command.

"That vessel came out of nowhere and before we could do anything about it they destroyed that infected ship." Harry answered.

"They're hailing us sir." Worf reported. "I suggest that we raise shields and bring or weapons systems online."

"You can bring the shields online but hold off on weapons." Harry said as he sat up in his chair. "Let's see what they have to say first."

Taking that as he cue, Worf linked the connection between the two ships and the bridge crew saw an elderly man with haunted yet determined eyes onscreen.

"Unidentified ship, my name is Setrakian." the old man said.

"My name is Captain Harry Kim of USS Voyager." Harry answered. "We were offering humanitarian aide to the vessel you just destroyed. Why did you fire on it?"

"You were on that ship!?" Setrakian asked with wide eyes. "Were any of you infected?"

"Several of my crew were but..."

"You must destroy them before it's too late!" Setrakian cut Harry off. "They will become Strigoi and infect every living thing on your ship until no one is left."

"Look Mr. Setrakian we don't have time for this!" Tom shot back. "If you know something about this virus then you're welcome to come aboard and tell our Doctor about it so he can try to cure it."

"First off boy, this isn't a virus." the old man told him, his throat starting to go raw. Feeling his sickly heart starting to pound, he decided to calm down. "I'll come aboard your ship and tell your doctor what I know. But be warned that nothing he can come up with will work."

"We'll see about that." Tom said as his hands clenched on the side of his chair.

"Mr. Worf, have Mr. Setrakian beamed over." Harry ordered before he looked over to his best friend and smiled despite the circumstances. "And if it's alright with you sir, I'd like to have Worf escort me to the Transporter room." as he said that Tom could only look at him sheepishly.

Transporter Room One

As Worf and Harry stood at attention in the Transporter room, they saw as a small elderly man with a cane materialized on the Transporter pad.

"That young man that went off on me... what was his name?" Setrakian asked as soon as he saw Harry.

"His name is Commander Tom Paris." Harry answered as he shared a look with Worf.

"I assume that this... Tom has someone that he cares about dearly that's sick?"

"Isis." was all Harry could say. He was quiet about it but he knew that Tom was sweet on her.

"When she transforms into a Strigoi then she will try to attack him first." Setrakian told him. "Now take me to this Doctor of yours. Let's see if he can do what I couldn't in over sixty years of researching."

"Before we go anywhere we need to talk about those people you killed." Harry said angrily. "How could you..."

"Those things weren't people." Setrakian cut him off. "Surely by now you know that they are dead. They are Strigoi."

"And you've been hunting them." Worf stated rather then asked.

"For over sixty years." Setrakian replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Ever since my run in with the Master."

"The Master?" Harry asked in confusion. "I..."

"Perhaps, I'll tell you about that another time." the old man said as he clutched at his heart. "Now take me to your doctor."

Sickbay

Setrakian lowered his head in sadness as he saw Isis, Roman, and Neelix barely holding on to life in their bio-beds. Their skin was so ghostly pale and it didn't seem like they had much time. "Such suffering." the old man said as he shook his head. "You should let me end their lives. I promise to make it quick and painless."

"You will do no such thing." the Doctor replied with a frown as he walked over to him from the other side of the room. "Who do you think you are?"

"Doctor this is Abra Setrakian." Harry introduced the two. "He is a Strigoi hunter and he knows all about this virus."

"Strigoi?" the Doctor asked as his brows furrowed. "You mean a vampire?"

"Doctor, you've heard of that term before?" Worf asked.

"It sounds like an ancient Romanian word that means vampire." the Doctor replied as he suddenly burst into a bout of anger. "But that's absurd. These people are suffering from some sort of parasitic virus, not some ancient fairy tale."

"I'm not sure what a vampire is but as I told your Captain this is no virus." Setrakian said evenly. "The vector for Strigoism is a capillary worm, which, once introduced into a host's bloodstream, either through feeding or direct invasion by the worm through a wound or orifice, introduces incurable and fast-acting signs of what you might believe to be a virus. As the host starts to die these worms multiply and start to manipulate the host's genes, causing the host to undergo numerous, radical physical changes. After the host dies and the worms fully take over, the first and most distinct Strigoi adaptation is the development of a long, retractile proboscis beneath the host's tongue, capable of extending up to six feet from the mouth. This stinger is both the strigoi's feeding and reproductive mechanism, shooting forth to latch onto it's prey's throat or thigh, both draining the victim's blood for nutrition and infecting them with capillary worms. Now tell me does that sound like what happens with your mystical vampire infection?"

"I... I must admit that, that does sound similar to the ancient legends that were on Earth." the Doctor said considering what the other man was telling him and briefly wondering if those old accounts about vampires were true or not. "Tell me, do these Strigoi have any weaknesses?"

"You can tell if someone is infected if you show their reflection in a silver-backed mirror." Setrakian said, seeing that the Doctor was finally starting to believe him. "Their reflection will start to violently shake. Decapitation works, they hate sunlight because it can instantly destroy them, which is why they draw their hosts out into space, and they are highly allergic to silver because of disinfecting properties of the element which can kill them."

"Silver?" the Doctor asked, his mind already spinning. "You wouldn't happen to have some would you?" As he asked that the old man reached behind himself into a small sack and pulled out a thin silver stake before handing it to the hologram.

"Doc, it seems like you have a plan going on?" Harry asked as his CMO ran over to his workstation.

"I have more then a plan." the Doctor replied even as his hands were going a mile a minute fixing up some kind of cocktail. "I think I've come up with a cure."

"How many times must I tell you people!" Setrakian yelled angrily as he looked around the room. "There is only one way to cure these people. The Master of whom this infection comes from must be killed. I know this because he's the one that did this to me." as he said that, he took off his gloves and showed them his broken and crooked hands. It seemed that the damage was done long ago and it obviously didn't heal right.

Before the Doctor could reply, the ship suddenly slipped into red alert. **Harry we have several intruders on board.** Tom said over the comline. **Most of them are on your deck.**

"It's the Strigoi!" Setrakian said, his voice coming out as a growl. "I know their stench anywhere."

"How would they be able to get on my ship?" Harry asked as Worf handed him a phaser.

"They can breathe in out of space." Setrakian reasoned. "Perhaps some of them survived the explosion from that ship. No matter though, they must be destroyed." as the three of them walked towards the door, Setrakian suddenly stopped and looked back at the Doctor. "If your cure doesn't work..." the old man just let his sentence linger in the air before walking out of the room. Getting the message, the Doctor quickly started back on his work.

As Setrakian walked out of Sickbay, he closed his eyes to help hone his senses. Hearing a clicking noise, he opened his eyes and looked to Harry. "They're coming. They can sense that soon some new brothers and sisters will be born." Looking back at Worf, he smiled because he saw a look of pleasure on his face. Obviously he was anticipating the upcoming battle.

All three of them now heard the clicking noise and they watched as five Strigoi ran from around a corner. Unscrewing a cap on the top of his cane, Setrakian pulled out a silver sword. "Strigoi, my sword sings of silver!" he cried out as he lobbed off the head of the first vampire that dared run towards him.

Snapping out a kick, Worf caught his opponent under the chin and sent him flipping backwards. With a punch, he knocked another one down, before reaching down and snapping his neck.

Harry almost tripped over himself as a Strigoi shot out it's tongue and tried to grab him. With nervous fingers, he put his phaser on the kill setting and vaporized it. Jumping to the floor, he shot another one as it got to close. "That was a close one." he said as Worf extended his hand and helped him stand to his feet.

"It's not over yet." Setrakian warned as two more rounded a corner.

* * *

><p>Isis lashed out as she felt someone touching her shoulder.<p>

"Counselor, it's alright." the Doctor said as he struggled to get control over her. "It's only me."

"Doc?" Isis asked as she groggily opened her eyes.

"That's right." the Doctor replied with a smile. "And I'm happy to report that you're cured."

As he said that, Isis looked around at the other bio-beds and saw that Roman and Neelix were sitting up and they looked as if their color was coming back to them. Hearing the door swish open, she looked over and saw Tom walking in the room and that Worf was standing silently in the corner. Giving both Neelix and Roman a look of disapproval, the Klingon quickly walked out of the room.

"Hey, I told you the Doc would patch you up." Tom said as he leaned up against her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got slammed on my head, but other then that I'm fine." the Counselor said as she quickly looked to the Doctor. "I will be fine won't I?"

"After a little rest you'll be perfectly fine thanks to my expert care." Doctor Zimmerman told her with a smug smile as he saw Setrakian about to leave the room. "If you'll excuse me Counselor... Commander." the hologram said as he walked over to the elderly man. "I wanted you to have this."

"You're giving me the cure?" Setrakian asked as he accepted the blue vial.

"Of course." the Doctor replied. "It only seems right since you are hunting the... Strigoi. FYI, it won't work on someone who has already turned, only people who are infected. So think the next time before you go about destroying ships."

"I will." Setrakian replied, taking little offence to what he said.

"I also wanted to talk to you about your hands." the Doctor said as he looked down at the older man's mangled digits. "I would have to rebreak them but I'm sure I can repair all of the damage that was done to you."

"You'd do that for me?" Setrakian asked in awe. "A perfect stranger?"

"Yes. That's my job as a Doctor to help those in need. It's the Starfleet way."

"Thank you for the offer but no thank you." Setrakian replied. "The next time I see the Master I want him to be reminded of what he did and what he took away from me. My hands are a symbol of that." as he turned to leave, he felt compelled to say something. "You people are some of the most generous that I've ever encountered out here in the black and that's very dangerous, so give your Captain some advice for me. Tell him there are things out here ever darker then the Strigoi that will exploit your kindness. Tell him that he and his crew have to be prepared for that."

"I... I'll tell him."

"Goodbye Doctor and have a safe journey."

As the Doctor said his goodbyes, he wondered if what Setrakian said about kindness was true.


	30. Chapter 29 Faces of a Dark Day pt 1

Chapter 29

Faces of a Dark Day pt. 1

Cargo bay One

"What is this... what is this about?" Dean Ambrose whispered over to Roman as sweat drizzled down from his face, from having to run for almost an hour in the cargobay. Looking up at his friend, Dean saw that the big man was staring off into space, seemingly concentrating on his task that was ordered by none other than the big fuck that stood watching them over in the corner. Giving Commander Worf a distasteful look, Dean struggled to keep up with Roman.

"I can't... I can't keep up." Neelix wheezed out as he stopped running. His lungs felt like they were on fire, as he nearly collapsed on the floor.

"Cadet, did I say that you could stop!?" Worf barked out as he walked over to Neelix. "Continue running."

"But... but you see sir... I can't." Neelix coughed as he looked up at the bigger man. Sweat seemingly pouring into his eyes.

"You can't because you're weak." Worf boldly stated, making Dean and Roman stop running. "The Shield cannot stay strong if we have a weak link on the team."

"Leave Neelix alone." Roman grumbled as he walked over to the pair.

"What was that, Ensign?" Worf asked as he looked up at equally big man.

"I said leave Neelix the fuck alone!" Roman shouted, almost making the whole room shake with his booming voice. "You've been picking on us all week, especially when it comes to Neelix and it stops here and now."

"If you weren't a part of this crew and on my team, I'd kill you where you stand." Worf said through narrowed eyes.

"Then, I'll make it easy on you then fuck face." Roman said as he took his badge and dropped it on the floor. "I quit. But before I officially do.. let me tell you that that hedgehog has more heart and guts then you'll ever have."

As Dean put a hand on his friends arm, he suddenly took off his combadge and threw it to the floor with a clank. Patting Roman on the chest, the two friends turned and walked out of the room. Giving Worf a final glance, Neelix turned and did the same, leaving a silent Worf in his wake.

Mess Hall

An Hour Later

Worf somberly sat at a table alone and slowly sipped a glass of prune juice. Sitting the glass down, he wondered how everything had gone so terribly wrong. Ever since the Shield had not waited to take orders from him on that Strigoi infested ship a week ago, he had went about looking for ways to discipline them to make them a stronger team.

One of those ways was either somehow making Neelix a stronger team member or kicking him out of the Shield. He had no idea what his counterpart Seth Rollins was thinking letting the Talaxian on the team in the first place and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why Roman was protecting him.

Suddenly someone put a plate of gagh in front of him. Looking up he saw that it was the ships chef, Bree.

"I did not order this."

"I know but it seemed like you might have been hungry." Bree told him with a smile.

"I appreciate the gesture of preparing Klingon food for me, but I'll gladly eat what the rest of the crew is eating." Worf said as he looked down at the worms squirming on the plate. "You shouldn't have gone through the trouble."

"Nonsense, I love experimenting with alien cuisine." she replied as she handed him a fork. "Besides it's mostly worms. Now eat up." Doing just that, Worf started to eat his food. "Is there some kind of a problem Commander?"

"No... the food is delicious."

"I wasn't talking about the food." Bree replied as she tilted her head and looked at him. "You seem like you're preoccupied with something."

"It's nothing... it's just..."

"This is about the Shield isn't it?" the beautiful Ocampan asked, making Worf look into her eyes finally. "Roman and I have grown very close and he tells me everything. Roman is going to kill me if he finds out I told you this but there's something you need to know before you judge him or Neelix." she said as she turned around to make sure that no one was listening. Dropping her voice done to a whisper she continued. "Roman was horribly abused as a child. Most of his family is dead and as a little boy he was small and sickly and was shuffled around to different foster parents and they abused him. When he got older, he ran away and snuck on a freighter and has been fending for himself ever since. When he became a man he went back to Earth and joined Starfleet. That's why he joined security, so he can protect people that are small... like Neelix. Speaking of Neelix, he's not as weak as you think he is." as she said that she told him all about Neelix almost giving his life up for complete strangers when the Shield went to save some slave girls from a Kazon ship. She also told him all of the small things Neelix had contributed in that he felt no one knew nor cared about. "So before you go about judging anybody, you should really get to know them."

"I... I had no idea." Worf mumbled to himself. He felt that Roman probably thought that he was a bully because of the way he treated Neelix. Perhaps, I am one. Before he could say anything further, his combadge suddenly chirped.

**Kim to Worf, Commander you need to report to the bridge. We're picking up an automated distress call from Commander Paris saying that they've been attacked by the Viidians.**

"I'm on my way, sir." Worf replied as he stood to his feet and gave Bree a nod.

A Vidiian Ship

Commander Paris tossed and turned as he tried to get some sleep on the steel bunk he was currently laying on. But the thought of being gutted for his healthy organs and for the fact that he didn't know where B'Elanna was, was preventing him from getting any sleep. Turning over in bed, he smiled as he stared at the sleeping form of Ahni Jetal. That girl... no woman was a real trooper for being able to sleep at a time like this. Letting out a sigh, Tom began to relive the last few moments in their shuttle, when Ahni had been trying to outrun a Viidian freighter while he sent out a message to Voyager.

He had tried for so long to get away from Voyager, volunteering for whatever away mission Harry had available. He loved his job as Commander but his true desire of flying wasn't being met.

Draping his arm over his face, he suddenly smiled to himself. He was surprised when Harry had finally given in and assigned him to pilot a survey mission for B'Elanna. Maybe it was because of his constant whining or because Harry felt sorry for him, for changing the Captain's mind, he'd never know. Not to be undone, since she had originally been assigned to the mission, Ahni came with them.

Voyager in the meantime had gone to scout a nearby system for supplies. So caught up in enjoying that moment of flying Tom hadn't been aware that they had passed out of communications range of Voyager. Either way that's when the Viidians decided to attack and he'd forever blame himself for having the ship be so far out of range. He just hoped that Voyager got the message he managed to send out after giving over Helm control to Ahni. He also hoped that he could keep his promise to Harry and keep his girl safe.

The shuttle they were on had been boarded quickly and before he could do anything all three of them had been stunned. He and Ahni had woken up in a dark rather depressive looking holding cell and he smiled a bit as he compared the aliens bunks to that of which Starfleet issued on Voyager. These things that he currently laid on now made his mattress feel like he was laying on a piece of heaven. Frowning his thoughts then turned to B'Elanna, because he hoped against hope that she wasn't somewhere being stripped of her organs. He had tried to ask questions but the Vidiians weren't talking. When he had tried to make demands, the Viidians had stunned him again, making a promise that the next time his organs would be taken.

Out of anger he had wanted to challenge them, but then Harry's, B'Elanna, Ahni, and Isis' faces flashed in his mind. He had so many people counting on him and he couldn't give up now. If only dad could see me now. Tom thought to himself as he rolled onto one side, still keeping his arm up over his face.

Thinking back to Isis, he put a small smile back on his face. If and when he made it back to Voyager he was going to tell her how he felt about her. No more games. Maybe he'd even finish that night in Paris program he was working on. It was an early 20th century program that took place in Paris on a tall rooftop restaurant with the eiffel tower serving as a backdrop.

Suddenly Ahni rolled over on her bunk and mumbled something in her sleep. Dropping his arm, he looked over at her and listened to the calming sounds of her breathing. He didn't expect the Vidiians to let him contact Voyager because of the cloak and dagger operation they ran but Harry's promise to destroy them if they ever threatened Voyager again made sure that they probably wouldn't see the light of day again.

Hearing the doors of the room open caused Tom to shiver slightly. The Viidians would constantly move in and out of the room, taking away weak sickly looking prisoners to what one increasingly obnoxious Talaxian had called "organ processing". And he thought Neelix was bad.

But despite the dark tone of the Talaxian's conversation, what he had said was still very informative. They were currently on a planetoid and the Viidians needed strong bodies to move their supplies and dig their tunnels to mine for dilithium and other precious materials. Basically if you stayed healthy, you might have a chance of not having your organs taken. He just hoped that Voyager got his message and that they would arrive soon.

"Tom?" a somewhat familiar female voice whispered. The voice sounded so soft and it left him frozen for a minute because the only people that knew his name here were Ahni and B'Elanna and the voice didn't belong to either. Suddenly a delicate hand reached out and touched his shoulder before shaking on it. "Tom?" the voice asked again, prompting him to roll over to see who was calling his name. The woman was a beautiful latino with dark hair and eyes that you could get lost in forever. Those same eyes also looked troubled and afraid. These were eyes that he had stared into before, but it was impossible. Sitting up he had to make sure that it wasn't a trick being played on him by the lighting. Blinking several times he had no choice but to accept who he was looking at. It was a completely human...

"B'Elanna?" Tom asked, as he sat all the way up in bed.

With unshed tears in her eyes B'Elanna sat on the floor next to his bunk, looking tired as she nodded her head. "Yeah, it's me," she weakly whispered after a few moments. Seeing what he was looking at, her hand shot up and she absentmindedly rubbed her forehead. "Even when I was turned into a human a few months ago, it didn't feel like this." she admitted. when Bray had turned her, she still felt like herself but now she felt so weak. "I've waited for this moment my whole life but now that it's here, I feel so empty."

With a feeling of awkwardness Tom stood up from the bed. He had never known B'Elanna to seem so vulnerable since he'd known her. Even after the brief things that Harry told him, after they had rescued her from the Kazon. Harry had never told him what the two had shared in that weapons room, but he could only imagine after she seemed broken to him for awhile. "How…"

"I don't know." she cut him off as she swallowed hard. "I just woke up in some laboratory and they told me that they had split my human half from my Klingon side."

"I can somewhat understand how Bray did it but... I guess it doesn't really matter now." Tom muttered. "My only question now is... why would they want to do this in the first place?"

"I don't know," she replied.

There was a sudden movement in the cot above him as the Talaxian Tom had talked to earlier started to laugh. "They split you in half, that's a new one." Before Tom could say anything, he continued. "These monsters are obsessed with finding a cure to the Phage. Maybe they think that you hold the cure?"

As he said that Tom blinked a little. After all the time he had known B'Elanna he had never even known her to so much as sneeze. Even when they had a bout of Tazalion flu going on, on the Val Jean, she didn't even do so much as cough while the rest of the crew besides Tuvok fell ill. "Maybe they think your Klingon half is immune to the Phage." Tom said, thanking whoever that was listening that he was all human from the beginning. He couldn't imagine how much pain that would have been to be spilt in half. But then again, I can still be put in little glass jars before Voyager gets here. He thought to himself.

"The both of you are new here, so I'll give you some advice." the Talaxian continued. "Stay healthy or end up in jars. Of all the people from my ship, I'm the only one left. If you so much as sneeze around here, you'll get taken like all of them did."

B'Elanna suddenly shivered because she knew she wasn't at her best. She felt so cold right now and so weak. Seeing the look of cold fear on her face, Tom suddenly squeezed her hand. "We don't have anything to worry about. Harry will find us." as he said that the Talaxian burst out laughing, making Tom very irritated. "Look, friend, our captain will do whatever it takes to get us back." The Talaxian only kept laughing before rolling over onto his side. He had heard all of this before.

Putting her head down on her knees, B'Elanna let the flood gates open and started to weep. "I told Harry that we'd go on a picnic on the holodeck. Now..." Not being able to finish her sentence, she just sat there and Tom heard the sounds of her crying.

"Hey, I know that things seem grim right now but we have to stay positive." Tom said as he put his hand on her shoulder. He hated to see women cry. "Just think... what would Harry do in a situation like this?"

"He... he'd probably tell me to be optimistic." B'Elanna replied as she started to perk up a bit.

"The four of you are coming with us." a bitter sounding voice said. Looking up Tom saw as three Vidiian men came in the room and was headed their way. Before he could get up, they jerked him and B'Elanna to their feet and pushed them into a line of people that they had formed, along with Ahni, who looked angry that they had woken her up and treated her so roughly.

"What the hell is going on?" Tom demanded to know.

"We're being transferred." the Talaxian whispered into Tom's ear. "Now calm down before you get us all killed."

Doing as he suggested, Tom stopped struggling. The Talaxian obviously knew what he was talking about since he lasted so long. The only problem now was he hoped that Voyager would be able to find them.

* * *

><p>Who am I? That should have been the easiest question to answer but yet it was lost in the fogginess of her mind. As she struggled for consciousness, she tried to move her leg but she heard the rattle of something that sounded like a chain. Hearing the noise made her eyes immediately snap open.<p>

As she looked down to the floor, she saw that she was strapped to some kind of bed, her legs in shackles and her wrists bound by cuffs that were molded into the metal bed. Growling low in her throat, her dry tongue suddenly flicked across her sharp teeth. It was strange that, that small gesture made her remember her name. It was B'Elanna. B'Elanna Torres.

But something felt wrong. She didn't feel like B'Elanna Torres. For the first time in her life she felt powerful and completely in control but yet at the same time something was missing. As she had that thought, razor sharp images started to pop into her head as she started to piece together her life all the way to her being captured.

She was on a shuttlecraft with Ahni Jetal and Tom when the Vidiians attacked them. As she was losing consciousness upon being stunned during the attack, she overheard one of the boarding Vidiians say that they were happy to have captured members of the fabled Voyager crew and how they were going to use them as an example to Captain Kim to not mess with or threaten the Vidiian Sodality.

Starfleet. I'm in love with a man named Starfleet. B'Elanna thought to herself as an image of his smiling face popped into her head. As more memories started to pop into her mind, she remembered that Starfleet's real name was Harry and that he had a nickname for her. He would call her his Maquis.

Before she could explore what the word Maquis meant to her the door to the darkened room suddenly opened and in walked one of the most grotesque creatures she had ever seen.

"I apologize for the restraints, but your presence here is very important to us." the Vidiian said as he walked ever so closer to her. "Do you understand?"

Finding her voice, B'Elanna spoke slowly, thanks to the extra-large teeth she now had. "Who are you?"

"I am Sulan, chief surgeon of the Vidiian Sodality." Sulan introduced himself.

"I demand to know what is happening here." B'Elanna said as Sulan held a mirror in front of her, making her eyes widen as she saw her reflection. No wonder she felt whole, yet hollow at the same time. She was completely Klingon. But that was impossible. "You've surgically altered my face. I look like a Klingon."

"I've performed no surgery as you understand the term." Sulan replied as he put the mirror away and became all business like. "There are several questions I need to ask you before we proceed."

"You can't possibly believe I'm going to cooperate with you."

"Perhaps I was in error to leave your consciousness and memory intact." Sulan muttered more to himself then he did his experiment.

"Jetal. Paris. What have you done with them?"

"What is your exact age, Klingon?" Sulan asked, ignoring her question.

"If you want me to answer your question, you will have to answer one of mine first."

"Very well." he replied with a sigh.

Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat as she took another glance at Sulan, she asked her question. "What exactly have you done to me?"

"I have reconstituted your genome. You are now purely Klingon."

"That's not possible."

"I assure you it is." Sulan replied with what looked to be a smile on his long decayed lips. He was proud of what he accomplished. "I have developed a procedure to stimulate cell division. A kind of enhanced mitosis. Your Klingon genetic material was extracted. It was then converted from matter to energy by our genetron. Finally you were rematerialised as the purified Klingon specimen that you are now. It is a technology that is similar to what our agents reported some time ago on your vessel. It's something like your Transporter system."

"Why?" B'Elanna needed to know. "Why have you done this?"

"For generations my people have been searching the quadrant for a species immune to our disease in the hope that it would lead us to a cure." he explained.

"And you think Klingons are immune to this phage?"

"I believe your genetic structure has phage-resistant nucleotide sequences, yes. But I needed a pure specimen to be certain. My people do not know it yet, but you are their greatest hope."

"I will never help you."

"You are very strong." Sulan told her. He truly admired her for that, as well as her great beauty. "I can only hope that you will be truly resistant to the phage."

"And how will you know that?"

"That's very simple." Sulan said as he turned his back to her. "I have infected you."

With a growl B'Elanna struggled against her bonds. She didn't know when, but she had to kill Sulan for what he had done to her.


End file.
